Versus 4: Temporal Distortion
by SludgeMetal666
Summary: Bra proposes to Goten. What's going to happen now? Now complete.
1. The Last True Saiyan

Versus 4: Temporal Distortion

--The Last True Saiyan?--

She used to see in color, now it's only black and white. The numbers on her clock which used to be blue were now glowing grey. It read 4:41am. It was a good thing that she didn't have school that morning. She would have slept right through it.

She stared at the numbers on her clock, wishing that sleep would come. Wishing that her mind could rest after what had just happened. But she'd just driven away her two best friends--her two ONLY friends--in the whole world. What could be worse?

Well, there was something that could be worse. If someone you loved tried to kill you.

Bra sighed. How awful must Goten feel after this whole ordeal. It hurt her just to think she'd done something so terrible to him. It was almost unbelievable what she'd done to him.

And then there was the conversation with her father right before she pulled Goten from the chamber:

--------

"I kinda went overboard when we were sparring, that's all," she'd said to her father.

"That's what I thought. You've come a long way, child. It seems you've become a true Saiyan."

"But that's not something I'm supposed to do. I'm not supposed to try to kill someone I love," Bra had told him.

"Oh, but it is. One fighter to another. It is the way of the Saiyan warrior. Today you will be acknowledged as the last true Saiyan."

--------

Did her father hold the key to what was going on with her as of late? She hadn't really spoken to him much recently. Maybe he could tell her what her problem was.

She didn't remember venturing into the kitchen, but she was there nonetheless. The clock on the stove read 5:48am. And things were still grey around her. It made her wonder whether it was just her eyes or whether the world had somehow lost all of its color. In either case, it didn't matter. Existance may as well have been obliterated after she lost Goten for good because nothing else mattered to her. How could she go on living when there was nothing left to live for?

Vegeta seemed to appear on the other side of the kitchen table out of nowhere. Had he been there all along?

Bra closed her eyes and reopened them to make sure she hadn't just imagined him there, but the grey image of her father remained.

He looked at her for a long time before he spoke. "You look awful," was the first thing he told her.

Bra gave no response to the comment. There was no reason to contest something that was true. She had cried all night instead of sleeping. And she paid the price for it right now. Of course, she wasn't really concerned about the way she looked anyway.

"Well, now that Kakarot's oldest brat's kid isn't here, maybe you'd like to tell me what happened yesterday," Vegeta said.

So, Vegeta wanted to milk her for information. That was unusual. That was normally her mother's department.

She wasn't sure if she should talk to her father about this. But it wasn't often he questioned her about anything. Besides, he was probably the only person who would see this whole situation from her standpoint.

She tried to say something, but her voice didn't seem to be functioning properly. She cleared her throat and tried again. "I lost it." It sounded strange coming from her. Like it wasn't even her own vocal cords relaying the message. She cleared her throat once again and went on. "It all started after I aced that history test. Goten and I had been waiting to spar for weeks. And I'd been training extra hard just to fight with him again. I wanted to show him that I was strong. That maybe I was even stronger than him." She sighed and looked up at her father. "I'd been training in my gravitron for over a week. My power jumped up a lot. Goten said so. Even Pan had said so." She stared at the table. "But when we went out there to spar, I noticed that Goten's power was still even with mine. Every other time we fought it was always pretty much even with mine..."

He had listened to her story wordlessly thus far, paying attention to everything she said. Every detail. She could tell by the look in his eyes that he wasn't just entertaining her by asking her this. He was actually interested in finding out what was going on. "He held back," he finally said.

Bra nodded. "He's always held back. How am I supposed to get stronger like that? I needed him to push me. He told me that he would go all out. He always said he would go all out. And I really believed I was strong when I fought with him and we were on the same level. I know it's stupid." She wanted to cry, but her tears had all dried up. But even if she could have, she wouldn't have. Not in front of her father.

"It's not stupid. You're a Saiyan. You live to fight. You fight to become strong," Vegeta stated with a smirk. "Unlike the other mixed Saiyans around here, you've kept an instinct from the Saiyajin of old."

What was he talking about? Goten, Pan, and her brother all loved to fight whenever they had the chance. This was nothing new. Her head seemed to be spinning from all this talking. Was it the talking? Or was it the fact that she'd been up all night? She was beginning to feel a bit tired now. Maybe sleep was finally kicking in. But she couldn't catch Z's just now. She felt as if her father might be about to tell her something really important.

"You see, a long time ago, even before my father's time, fighting was used for everything. It made bonds between family members stronger. Especially near death sparring. It's even used as a form of courtship. A bit of a mating ritual, if that's what you want to call it. Only the strongest of Saiyans left their potential mates near death," Vegeta said. "It was only a matter of time before you ended up doing it. Your human side probably just had to come up with a reason to go through with it."

Bra blushed deeply. Mating? This was not something she wanted to talk to her father about. So, this meant that he was trying to tell her that it was okay for her to try to kill Goten? Well, it wasn't okay. This wasn't the old days on Planet Vegeta. She wasn't a part of this ancient race anymore. She was on Earth. And it was time for her to accept her human side. She just had to be brave enough to say that to him.

"Why me?" Bra asked. "Why couldn't it be Goten?"

"Yeah right," Vegeta sighed. "No one knew this was going to happen to you. And I don't know why it didn't happen with any of the others. As a matter of fact, I'm surprised it's happening to anyone at all. But I had my suspicions when you volunteered to fight me a while back instead of letting the brat fight. Humanity has taken over the hearts and minds of these other half-breeds. We, Bra--you and I--are the last remaining Saiyans."

Bra looked at her father strangely.

"And to think everyone thought I would be the last. How wrong they were," Vegeta said. He laughed a little. "I must admit, I didn't think that a half-blooded Saiyan could possess that trait, but here you are."

She shook her head. "But what does it mean? Does it mean I'm some kind of monster?"

Vegeta frowned. "Am I a monster?"

"No, but a lot of people think you are," Bra stated.

Vegeta smirked. "Are there any people who don't think I'm a monster."

Bra thought for a moment. "Well, me, Mom, Trunks--"

"And isn't that all that matters in the end?" Vegeta asked her before she could even finish her list. "The people who matter accept me for the way I am. They know that I am a Saiyan. And you are a Saiyan too."

"Papa, I... If I want Goten back, I have to be human. I have to be human for a change," Bra found herself saying.

Vegeta laughed a little. "I've seen humans do worse things than Saiyans can even imagine."

And there he went. He'd ended the conversation by leaving the room. Probably off to train.

Bra felt more confused now than she had when she'd first heard the statement her father made. None of what he had told her would bring Goten back to her. None of it would make him forgive her for what she'd done to him. She would have to do something extremely grand or extremely clever to even get him to pay attention to her again. So until she came up with that something, she would have to live her life without him.

How ridiculous. Being a Saiyan on Earth was hard work.

Suddenly, she remembered an argument her parents had after she fought her father all those weeks ago:

--------

"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING! FIGHTING YOUR OWN DAUGHTER!" Bra had heard Bulma's voice echo through her brain.

"I wouldn't expect YOU to understand!" Vegeta had commented rather loudly.

"I understand perfectly! You're an insane father who won't let his daughter be with someone she loves. My father didn't want me to be with you, but he never punched me in the face over it!" Bra remembered her mother shouting.

"You have no idea what happened out there today!" Vegeta had said.

"Just because I fainted doesn't mean I don't know what went on! And seeing the result made it pretty clear what happened!" Bulma had stated. "You--could--have--KILLED--her! THIS IS RIDICULOUS, VEGETA! Let her live her life! She's 16! She's all grown up! She's not our little girl anymore!" Bulma had argued from the other room.

"That's not the point!" she recalled Vegeta bellowing. "You're so clueless! I can't believe you don't see what's happening! And YOU'RE supposed to be the genius here! Hardly." And that was when her father left.

--------

So that's what that whole argument was about. The whole 'last true Saiyan' thing. Boy, her father could be really weird sometimes. If he was just trying to bond with her, he could have just said so.

Then again, was that the reason she so wanted a rematch? Did she want to return the favor of this Saiyan family ritual? This was all too confusing. The Last True Saiyan? Why couldn't she just be a regular girl?

--End The Last True Saiyan?--

--Welcome to Versus 4: Temporal Distortion. This is SludgeMetal666. I hope you enjoyed this first chapter of the 4th part of Versus. What do you think? Please review. Let me know what you liked or hated about this first chapter. Your reviews will help determine some of the turns this series takes.


	2. You Would Know

Versus 4: Temporal Distortion

--You Would Know--

She'd somehow managed to find her way to her room before the Sandman cast his spell on her. She'd had a wonderful dream. She dreamt that she and Goten were finally together. They'd gotten married. Bra had never been happier. Everyone was there to witness their union. The wedding was splendid with its white and pale blue decorations. Trunks was, of course, Goten's best man and Pan was Bra's maid of honor.

It was all much too good to be true. As a matter of fact, the dream had been so wonderful that she could not allow herself the pleasure of even dreaming it. She awoke with a start and gazed at the ceiling. She was still very tired from missing a full night's rest. She looked over at her clock and noticed the color had finally returned to the world. It was 10:15. She'd slept approximately 3 hours after the conversation with her father.

The conversation with her father. She still wasn't too sure what exactly went on there. She remembered every bit of it. That wasn't the problem. Her problem was finding out what it meant. What did this 'last true Saiyan' deal boil down to? She remembered hearing him say that he too was one of the last, yet he had never fought her mother. Not physically anyway. They fought verbally day in and day out...

Was that the reason they constantly bickered back and forth? Was this her father's way of sparring with her mother? Was that why they worked so well together? If that was the case, then she could see why her father would stick with her mother for so long. She gave him a challenge somehow. It kinda went hand-in-hand with this whole last true Saiyan thing. But how in the world did her mother deal with her father for so long? Easy. It was in her nature to argue. Somehow they'd found each other and no matter how often they get into these verbal spats, they each get something out of it. What that something was, Bra still wasn't sure, but they seemed to work.

So, she had to find a way to apply this to her situation with Goten. They both enjoyed fighting, but honestly, no one in his right mind would want to be nearly killed during a supposedly friendly tussle. And no one would want to be left out in the middle of nowhere. In a way, she had accepted it when her father did it to her. She just saw it as a sign that she needed to train some more. Goten was different. He wanted to stay away from her altogether. And she really couldn't blame him.

Bra sighed. Oh, how she wished she had someone to advise her on this situation. Pan would have been the perfect person to talk to, but she too was upset about what had happened.

She finally sat up on her bed and sighed once again. How could she? How could she have nearly killed him while they were sparring? It was something she would ask herself over and over again.

But wait! It wasn't like it was so unusual for them to fight til one of them lost consciousness. He'd done the same to her only a few weeks ago. Of course, he hadn't left her in the wasteland in that condition, but it was pretty much the same thing... Yeah...

There was a strangely familiar sound resonating through her ears, but she ignored it. She had to do something, but what? How could she possibly get back a person who most likely doesn't trust her anymore?

That sound she'd been hearing for a while finally stopped. That was a good thing. It had been wrecking her train of thought.

There had to be a logical way to get Goten back. She would have to shower him with displays of affection. Sweet words. Kind gestures. No gifts. That would be the biggest mistake of her life. Besides, Goten would see right through that. Not that he wouldn't see right through--

Suddenly, there was a voice right behind her. Bra quickly turned to see who could have snuck up on her like this in her own bedroom.

But no one was there. She frowned when she realized that the sound she had been hearing earlier was her telephone. And the voice she had heard was coming from her answering machine.

She looked at the phone for a long time as the answering machine spoke to her.

"I know you're there. You never go anywhere unless you're training or unless somebody makes you get up and get out," Pan's voice came through.

What was Pan doing calling her? Why was she talking to her? She was supposed to be angry about the whole trying to kill Goten thing. She actually sounded somewhat cheerful on the answering machine. Bra still wasn't sure she should pick up the phone.

"I couldn't help noticing what your dad said to you last night before we left. Do you have any idea what that was about?" Pan asked as if Bra were actually on the line talking to her.

She looked at the answering machine strangely. Pan was talking like the whole incident never happened. Maybe she'd forgotten. Or maybe she'd forgiven her. Bra frowned. For some reason that didn't sound right. She knew that if Pan tried to kill one of her family members... Well, that was a bad example. But either way, there was something very out of place here.

"Bra? Do you plan on picking up the phone some time today? You don't hang with your parents that much. And I know you're not studying with Nick on a Saturday. Pick up," Pan went on.

Bra finally picked up the telephone and slowly brought it up to her ear. "Hello?"

"Don't say hello like you don't know who this is. What took you so long?" Pan asked with a little giggle.

Pan sure did sound happy. What had gotten into her?

"You always ask that," Bra told Pan, hoping that she could keep Pan from being angry at her with a little humor.

"That's because it always takes you forever to answer the phone," Pan said simply. "We need to talk. How about before we go to the show, I come over and we have a little chat?"

The show? Oh, that's right. Eroder was playing tonight. How could she have forgotten? It was music related. She couldn't believe that Pan would actually be willing to attend with her.

"What kind of little chat?" Bra dared to ask.

"Well, I thought that would be obvious. Mostly about what your dad said last night about being a Saiyan," Pan told her. "But we also have to talk about something that Goten was talking to me about last night when he took me home."

Uh oh. Alterior motive. She should have known. This was going to be bad.

Bra should just come right out and say what she was thinking. This didn't happen often, of course, but it was something she needed to know. "You know, I'm not even sure why you're talking to me right now. I tried to kill your uncle." She probably shouldn't have said anything. It was probably best to let it be, but this was a very confusing set of circumstances. Besides, she'd already said it. It was too late to try and take it back now.

Pan was quiet for a minute. "Yeah, that's true. But I was upset last night. I had a chance to sleep on it. Let it sink in, you know."

Hm...

"Besides, it's not like you did kill him. And you brought him back around. What's done is done. So let's just let bygones be bygones and let the good times roll on," Pan said.

This one's optimistic.

Bra sure hoped Goten would see things the same way. She somehow doubted it.

"Do you think it's alright for me to come over now? I mean, your folks wouldn't mind, would they?" Pan asked.

"Does it matter?" Bra questioned.

"Nah, not really. I was gonna come over either way," Pan admitted.

"That's what I thought," Bra said.

"I'll see you in a few." Pan hung up the phone.

What had just happened there? Maybe Pan was trying to gain Bra's trust so that she could exact revenge. It wasn't something Pan would do, but then again, Pan could be sneaky when she wanted to be.

Bra shook her head. She was just being paranoid. Wasn't she...?

--End You Would Know--

--Sorry for the long wait on this chapter. Rough week.

--Anyway, thank you for reading this episode of Versus 4: Temporal Distortion. So what does Pan have in mind for this meeting she and Bra are about to have? And what has Goten been talking to Pan about? Find out in the next episode of Temporal Distortion.

--Thanks for the reviews. You're beautiful people. I hope you enjoyed this episode as much as you enjoyed the last. I know this one was a whole lot of Bra whining and complaining, but hopefully things will get better in the future.


	3. He Said, She Said

Versus 4: Temporal Distortion

--He Said, She Said--

Pan knocked on Bra's window and waved to her.

Bra looked at her clock. 10:39am. Now was the time of truth. Now she'd see whether Pan wanted to give her information or destroy her. And even with the amount of time she'd known her friend, she had no idea what Pan might be capable of. Especially if she was angry. It just wasn't often that she'd seen Pan that way.

She walked over and let Pan in.

"What's with that look?" Pan asked as she hopped into the room.

Bra's expression gave her away. She wanted to ask why Pan was being so friendly, but maybe she'd gotten her answer over the phone. Besides, she had bigger things to worry about now. Like what Goten had been saying. "Nothing. Nothing. So what's up?"

Pan smiled at Bra confidently. One of those smiles that whispered, 'I know something you don't know'. "Do you really wanna know?" she asked.

The suspense was killing her. She'd already been waiting for what seemed like hours for Pan to show up and tell her what Goten had said. She'd even skipped the small talk so Pan would have no choice but to get straight to the point.

"Of course I want to know. I don't care how bad it is," Bra said. She sat on her bed and sighed.

Pan took a seat in Bra's desk chair. "Well..." She looked a little more serious than she had before. "Goten and I were talking..." She paused for a long time.

"And?" Bra asked. "What did he say? What is it?"

"Calm down. I'm getting to that. Be patient," Pan said. "We talked about what you were saying about his holding back and all. He said that you had a point. I don't know. He's really confused. For some reason, he thinks this whole thing is his fault now." She frowned.

Bra felt really guilty now. She was going to end up being one of those people who abused their loved ones and left them thinking it's their own fault. "But it's not."

"Well, I know that and you know that. I even told him it was your fault," Pan went on.

Bra frowned. Now she didn't have to go telling him that. She could have said that they shared the blame.

"But that's not what I wanted to bring up first," Pan continued. "I think Goten kinda lost his mind when you told your dad that he was someone you loved. And you actually used the word 'love'. He got all weird about that. Most likely because we both thought that your father would be the LAST person you said something like that to. I'm talking about even after Goten. Goten would have been the second to the last, then your dad would have been the very, very last."

Bra tried to fight the blush that crept up on her cheeks. "What do you mean? He was 'weird' about it?"

Pan shrugged. "He was just... I don't know. I think you broke his brain with that one."

Bra looked confused.

"Yeah, stuff like that. He was giving me those kinds of looks," Pan told her.

Bra looked even more confused.

"And that one too," Pan said. "I mean, it's nothing too out of the ordinary for him to look like that, but I think he's really lost right now. He was really upset last night. And I don't think he's going to be any less upset today."

Bra looked at the ceiling. "Well, how in the world am I supposed to get him back? I don't want him to be mad at me. I want him to like me. At least as a friend. I want things to be the way they were, even if I can't have him as..., well, a boyfriend."

Pan smiled. "I had a feeling you'd ask how you could get him back. I've got a plan." She giggled a little. "I know this is really last minute, but we need to see if we can talk Nick and the guys into it."

Nick and the guys? What was this little ebony-haired tyrant thinking?

"Here's my idea. I can talk Goten into coming to the show with me and Marron tonight. If you pick a song that you'd want to sing to Goten, you could get Eroder to play it at their show. And you can sing it to him. What do you think?" Pan asked with a smile.

Her friend sounded so excited about the whole thing, but Bra wasn't too sure about this. She'd never sung in front of people before. And Eroder may not want to do something like this. It could mess up their whole set. Besides, Goten wasn't as big a music fan as she was.

But who wouldn't want a serenade? It was romantic. And to make it even better, Bra would be doing this in front of a huge crowd of people, confessing her love for him openly in a way she never would have otherwise. It wasn't a bad idea. But there was a 50/50 chance it wouldn't work. She really had nothing to lose by trying it.

"Pan, you just might be a genius," Bra told her. "I'll do it."

"Great. This is gonna be perfect. Make sure to pick a really good song. He'll be so flattered that he'll have to at least smile about it," Pan said. She raised her eyebrows. "I'm not gonna lie. I thought you were gonna be like, 'That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard'. I guess you really will go to almost any extreme to get him back. That's so cute."

Cute? It wasn't cute. It wasn't cute at all. It was a potential catastrophe. But it was an idea. And that was something Bra just didn't have at the time.

"Alright. That's enough of that," Pan interrupted Bra's thoughts. "Now there's something I want to know. What was your dad saying about being a Saiyan last night?"

Bra paused for a moment. She wasn't quite sure where to start. Especially since she'd gotten some new information on the matter from her father earlier that morning. So she gave Pan all the details she could. Maybe Pan could decipher something from it that Bra couldn't. It was already hard enough for her to think when she was operating on such an inadequate amount of sleep.

"And so, to make a long story short, the reason you tried to kill Goten was because you want to...procreate with him?" Pan asked, trying not to laugh.

Bra narrowed her eyes at Pan, but blushed all the same.

After a couple of seconds, Pan laughed out loud. "I'm sorry. That just sounds kinda funny when you think about it." She stifled the rest of her laughing fit. "You know if he would have died, you wouldn't have been able to be with him, right?"

"I know that. Listen, I don't really understand all of what my father was talking about. And I really don't care. All I care about is Goten," Bra said.

"Oh, come on, Bra. You can't just go on not knowing what this whole last true Saiyan thing means. What if it causes some other weird stuff to happen?" Pan asked. She frowned. "What if you try to do something like that again?"

"Well, my dad's one. And he hasn't done anything weird," Bra said. She thought for a while. "Well, except when he fought me. But that's only because I challenged him. So obviously there's a way to control whatever this is. Maybe I should talk to him about this some more."

"Maybe you should," Pan said. "And while you do that, I'll go talk Goten into seeing Eroder play. I don't think I'll tell him exactly where we're going, though. It'll be a surprise." She stood up. "Find out what you are. Find a song to sing. And talk to Nick about singing at their show. Those are your assignments. Do you think you're up for it?" she said like she was in some kind of James Bond movie.

Bra laughed a little and nodded. "I think I can handle that."

"Good. You have until 8:30pm. I'll contact you later with further details," Pan told her with a giggle. She hopped back out the window.

Bra folded her arms across her chest. Pan was really a lot like Goku. Nothing seemed to phase her for long. Bra had tried to kill her family member, but still she forgave her. She went back to being her friend like nothing ever happened. Oh, how she wished Goten would do the same. But it was a little harder to forgive someone for something when you were the one it happened to.

--End He Said, She Said--

--Welcome to another episode of Temporal Distortion. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed it. I know it was a little short. Sorry about that. It seems Pan has the plan. How is it going to turn out? Find out next time.

--Thank you for all the reviews. Sometimes I forget that there are several people reading this story. It kind of shocks me to see more than 3 reviews of a chapter. I thank you so very much for those reviews. Please keep them coming. It's the only way I know whether I'm doing something right or wrong. And feel free to tell me if there's something that you don't like.


	4. Waves and Favors

Versus 4: Temporal Distortion

--Waves and Favors--

Had she had the opportunity to track her father down now, she could have. Surely, the great Saiyan was out training, as he always did. Bra studied the clock on the stove. 12:10. She'd missed breakfast and it was almost time for lunch. Her father would certainly be here soon. Unfortunately, Bra happened upon something--or rather someONE--else as she prepared to go out and find him. When she walked into the kitchen, her mother was sitting at the table, talking on the telephone. Bulma had signaled for Bra to stick around for a little while.

"Alright, ChiChi. I'll get to the bottom of this," Bulma said over the telephone. "I'll talk to you later." She hung up and looked at Bra for a long time.

Now what was this all about? Bra stood beside the kitchen table with her hands on her hips, waiting for her mother to say something.

And she did.

"What's going on with you lately, Bra?" Bulma questioned her only daughter. She sounded like she was already tired.

"What do you mean?" Bra asked. It obviously had something to do with the conversation her mother had on the phone with the mother of the man she loved.

"I was just talking to ChiChi on the phone," Bulma began.

Yeah, like Bra didn't know that part already.

"She told me that Goten showed up at her house before six o'clock this morning," Bulma went on. "He was talking to her about the way you've been acting lately."

Oh, no...

"How you won't open up to him. How you've broken his heart. What have you done? She'd never seen Goten so down. And to tell the truth, it doesn't sound like Goten either," Bulma continued.

Bra sat at the table. Had there been more? Had Goten told his mother that she tried to kill him? He couldn't have told her. That would have been the first thing her mother mentioned. Bulma, The Great Chatter Box, would have gotten straight to that part without hesitation. And of course she wouldn't have asked Bra what was going on.

"Things haven't been right with me lately. I admit that. But I don't understand what it is," Bra said. "Some of it, I can't even remember." She wasn't about to tell her mother about being the last true Saiyan. It would only make things more complicated.

"You can't remember? Honey, that's not good. Talk to me. Tell me what's going on," Bulma demanded.

Bra frowned. What was there to tell? She could tell her that she'd recently tried to kill Goten and left him to die. But then, she'd probably want to send her to an insane asylum. That wouldn't help much because doctors there wouldn't be able to diagnose a person like her. She was a Saiyan. Obviously, whatever was going on with her was natural for their race. Or was it? She never told her father about the fact that she sometimes couldn't remember her actions.

But at least her mother had steered the subject away from what Goten and ChiChi had been talking about.

"Some days I do things and don't remember what I've done," Bra said simply.

Bulma frowned. "Do you black out? What do you feel like when this happens?"

Bra shrugged. "I don't know. One minute I'm doing something and the next thing I know, I've lost time."

"Lost time?" Bulma asked.

"I...I look at a clock or something and time has gone by without me knowing it," Bra went on.

Bulma folded her arms across her chest and thought for a while. "Really? When does this happen? I mean, what are you doing when this happens?"

Bra sighed loudly. Here her mother was, giving her the third degree. She never should have stayed here and held a conversation with her. "Um, usually I'm training or fighting, but it's happened..., like, at school."

"Okay. And how do you feel before and after it happens?" Bulma asked.

Bra rolled her eyes. "I don't know. It's hard to say. I feel lost... Or like I've been living a dream... I don't know. I can't describe it. Why are you asking me this?"

"I have a theory. But I'm going to need you to cooperate with me. I want to get an electroencephalogram," Bulma said. "If I'm right, I'll be able to tell you exactly what's happening."

An EEG? Bra had no idea that her mother even had one of those machines.

--in the lab--

Bra sat on an examination table and sure enough, she had electrodes placed on her head. Her mother actually had an electroencephalograph.

Bulma was at one of the many computers in her lab, typing away. "Now, if my theory is correct, you have nothing to worry about." She frowned. "Well, I shouldn't say that you'd have nothing to worry about. What I should say is that we'll have a handle on what's happening."

Why in the world had Bra agreed to this? What was this going to prove anyway? This stupid machine would do nothing but record the electrochemical activity of her brain. There was nothing this machine could say that she didn't already know. There was constantly a lot of activity up there.

"What I need you to do is relax. I can put you to sleep to reduce the brain activity," Bulma began.

"No thanks. As much as I need the sleep, I think I'd rather be conscious for this," Bra insisted.

Bulma shook her head. "That's not going to give me a very good reading." She started taking out needles and vials.

Her mother sure kept a lot of strange things in her lab. It made her wonder if she'd done this kind of thing before. Of course, it only made sense that she had. She seemed so confident about this procedure.

"Well, can I meditate instead? I don't like the idea of things forcing me to sleep," Bra said. She eyed the medical equipment and frowned.

"Just like your father. Fine. Meditation is just as good," Bulma told her. She put the needles away.

Bra sighed.

"I'm already getting strange readings, but it may just be the fact that you're still active," Bulma said. "Go ahead. I have a feeling your father's back for lunch. I'll be back to study the readings."

Her mother left the lab.

She would soon have to figure out what song she should sing to Goten, but now was not the time try to find out what that song would be. She had to concentrate on the task at hand...

--after quite a while--

Bra yawned and stretched a bit. She'd fallen asleep during her meditation. That was a sure sign that she really needed the rest. Usually when she meditated, she couldn't fall asleep for the life of her. Well, this time she had. Looking around, she noticed that she was still in the lab. She had been laying on the examining table, but there was now a blanket covering her. Her mother must have put it there.

She felt around her head for the electrodes. They were no longer there. And the electroencephalogram was gone as well. But at the table beside her lay a note scribbled in her mother's handwriting:

_Bra,_

_I found an interesting wave hidden on your EEG. I'm taking it to the main lab in order to study it more. I'll do all I can to find out what this is, but it's going to take some time. There are a couple of packages of sliced roast beef in the fridge in case you're hungry. I'll see you later._

_Mom_

Boy, it was like her mother was able to read her mind. She was starving. She hadn't eaten all day. And for a Saiyan to go all day without eating was a sin.

After she stretched one last time, she made her way into the kitchen and raided the fridge. She put together 8 roast beef sandwiches and grabbed a bag of chips. Strangely enough, she was eating light. She sat in front of her light meal and sighed.

Her mother was studying a strange wave she'd found on Bra's EEG. What could it mean? What could this hidden wave tell them?

Just as Bra was about to bite into her 3rd sandwich, Nick came into the room.

"Good afternoon, Ms. Bra," Nick said to her. He looked at the pile of sandwiches strangely. Of course, he knew that she had a healthy appetite. Maybe it slipped his mind.

There was no malice today. She didn't feel as angry as she normally did when she encountered him, so luckily he would receive some pleasantness today. Besides, she wanted a favor.

"Hi, Mr. Carnage," Bra greeted a little too cheerfully.

Nick raised an eyebrow.

That must have been a dead give away. "What have you been up to all day?"

Nick sighed. "Well, I've been talking to your mom. She seems to have created this little machine, kinda like a lie detector, that measures changes in the atmosphere of the room to determine whether a person is leaving something out of a conversation or not." He frowned.

Now, that was the machine her mother was using on him the other day when he ended up telling her mother that he was attracted to her. Why would she be using it on him again? Hadn't she caused enough trouble for this poor guy?

"Needless to say, your mother now knows that I'm in a band," Nick went on. "Among other things I would rather have kept to myself."

Yeah, like the fact that he had been pining over her secretly since he arrived.

"She's also told me that she was running some sort of test on you," Nick said.

They just HAD to talk about that.

Before he was able to question her or say anything else about her end of things, she figured it was time to end the small talk and get on with what she'd wanted to talk to him about.

"Um, listen. I wanted to ask a favor," Bra began, completely ignoring his last statement.

"Favor? What kind of favor?" Nick asked.

Hook, line and sinker.

"A really big favor. A huge favor," Bra told him.

Nick looked at Bra strangely once again.

Bra sighed. Asking for someone's help had never been on her list of specialties, but when the stakes were this high, she'd gladly do anything. Especially if it meant at least POSSIBLY allowing Goten and her to be friends again. "I don't know if this is possible, but I really need your help. Actually, I need all of Eroder's help on this one."

"I'm listening," was all Nick said.

"I want to sing a song during your performance tonight," Bra blurted out. Damn! She'd wanted to say it in a better way.

Nick looked surprised. "What? Why?"

There was no way she was telling him about her relationship problems. No way.

Bra had clammed up.

"I mean, our set list was given to this particular club owner not long after we get the gig. If we make changes, it could seriously effect Eroder's reputation around town," Nick said.

Bra frowned. "I know. And I know that if I get up there and screw up or sound terrible, it could destroy what you've worked so hard to gain in this city. But believe me, it's for a good cause."

"I'm sorry, Bra. I can't do that. I mean, what about the rest of the band? Even if I did say yes to you, they wouldn't know about it till it's too late. And that wouldn't be very fair. I'd like to help you, but I just can't," Nick explained.

Bra looked a little surprised. She couldn't believe he was saying no to her. What was she going to do now? What if Goten decided to come to the show and she wasn't able to sing to him? What then? Well, she could still sing to him. It wouldn't be in front of a crowd or with accompanying instruments, but she could sing to him any time. This was a stupid idea anyway. She was stupid for thinking something like this would work.

"J. Geils Band was right. Love stinks," Bra muttered to no one in particular. She collected the rest of her late lunch and was about to depart when Nick stopped her.

"Hold on, there," Nick said. "You didn't say anything about love. I'm a real sucker for love. Is that what this is all about?"

Bra rolled her eyes. She shouldn't tell him anything. He hadn't even put forth an effort to try to help her. He held the key to her possible happiness, yet he was about to throw it all out the door before he even knew why she wanted to do a song with them.

"I've lost someone very special to me and I'm trying to win him back," Bra responded rather plainly. She may have sounded like she didn't care, but she did. She cared almost a little too much.

Nick nodded. "Well, that changes everything. I know you probably don't want to talk to me about it. That's okay. I understand. But I'd like to do whatever I can to help."

Yeah, yeah. Blah, blah, blah. Why couldn't he just help her before. He knew he had the power to help her. What a jerk!

"Now, I've been known to give really good advice when it comes to relationships," Nick started.

"No thanks. If you could reserve a spot for me to sing, that's really all I need," Bra cut him off. Not a good idea. That was kinda rude of her. Especially when she was the one who wanted a favor.

Nick smiled and shook his head. "I don't even know why I suggested it. I should know better by now. Alright. You can do your song. But I'm warning you, singing on stage is nothing like singing in the shower."

"I know that," Bra told him. "I don't sing in the shower anyway. That's ridiculous."

Nick thought for a minute. "No. No, you don't. As a matter of fact, I've never even heard you sing."

"I'm not the singing type," Bra informed.

"Well, you'd better become the singing type quick," Nick said. "If you tell me what song it is, me and the guys will get it ready. I'll make it the last song of the set, so you'll have plenty of time to prepare."

--End Waves and Favors--

--Messed up ending for an episode, huh? Anyway, that's it. Hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for reading.

--Thank you for the reviews, as always. Let me know what you think about this chapter. I know it seems a bit out of place, but...well, you'll just have to see where things go from here. Until next time...


	5. 10:15 on a Saturday Night

Versus 4: Temporal Distortion

--10:15 on a Saturday Night--

"It took a lot of convincing, but he finally agreed to come," Pan told Bra over the phone. "And when I say a lot of convincing, I mean, I had to go through a lot to get this guy to do this. Especially without telling him where I was taking him."

Bra held the phone to her ear and shook her head. "Thank you so much, Pan. You're a real miracle worker."

"Well? How did things go on your end?" Pan asked. "I'd hate to have done all that convincing in vain."

"Here's the thing. I talked to Nick and he agreed to let me do it. The only thing about it is that I had to tell him my situation," Bra said.

"I can't believe you'd tell someone what's going on with you. It usually takes you so long to even open up to me," Pan complained.

"Actually, I didn't tell him everything. I just told him that I messed up with a guy and that I wanted to do a song for him," Bra clarified.

"Of course. I should have known. So they're gonna let you do it? What song?" Pan questioned.

Bra smiled. "I'm not gonna tell YOU that. It's a secret."

"Fine. I'll find out when you do it. What I really wanna know is what the deal is with the whole 'last true Saiyan' thing," Pan went on.

Bra shook her head as if Pan could see her through the phone. "I never caught up with my dad. I ran into my mom earlier, though. She told me that Goten was at his mom's house early this morning. They had a long talk, apparently."

"Really? What about?" Pan asked. "Cause you know if my grandma knows you hurt Uncle Goten, she'll go ballistic."

"I don't think it got that far," Bra said. "My mom woulda really chewed me out if she told her something like that. Nah. What my mom seemed to be interested in was my 'emotional development'. She gave me an electroencephalography."

"A--huh?" Pan asked.

Oh, right. Pan wasn't familiar with that sort of terminology. "She recorded my brain waves--"

"Now why couldn't you just say that in the first place? You know I don't know what an...electric-slide-o-graph is," Pan said.

Bra rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Anyway, she's probably still studying my brain waves as we speak. That took forever. She tried to put me under, but I wouldn't let her. Then I talked to Nick and I told him what song I wanted to do. And then I spent the rest of my time training. I could have hunted my dad down, but you know how he is when it comes to interruptions."

"You're right," Pan agreed. Bra could almost hear her cringe.

"Listen, don't worry about my dad. I'll handle that end of things when the time comes," Bra told her. "So has Goten said anything else about me?"

She sounded like one of those silly little love struck teens she saw walking around school. Incessantly chattering about the guys they liked. How embarrassing it was for her to be reduced to this.

"Surprisingly, he hasn't said anything else about you," Pan replied.

It was like someone had stomped on her heart. She thought he would have at least mentioned her. How very disappointing.

"Figures," was all Bra said about that.

"Listen, what you should do is concentrate on your song and your look. Please wear something nice. Like that little dress that Goten picked out for you when we went to the mall that time," Pan suggested.

And it would have been a great suggestion. Bra frowned. That dress. That little black dress. She'd worn it to school that very next day to impress Goten. Unfortunately, that day had gone badly for her and she ended up destroying that particular piece of clothing, right along with some of her hair.

She ran her fingers through her hair. It was still somewhat short, but it was starting to grow back.

"I'll find something to wear," Bra told Pan. "Don't you worry about me. Just make sure you get Goten there." It was rude of her to do, but she hung up before even saying good-bye. How did Pan put up with her as a friend for so long? How could she be this optimistic about the fact that Bra and Goten should still try to get together?

It was a little after 8:00pm. Eroder would start warming at about 9:00 so they could go on at 9:30. It gave her a little time to fix herself up. Good thing she'd showered right after she got done training. Now all she had to do was get dressed and do her hair.

Bra scanned the contents of her closet. For someone who didn't shop much, she sure had a wide variety of clothes. Stuff her mother had bought for her. Most of which she'd never worn. Well, it was times like these that having all these clothes came in handy.

Having all these clothes was a burden. It took her forever to find the right ensemble, but she was sure she got it right once she put it on. A long white form-fitting dress with very short sleeves and a somewhat sheer midriff. She wasn't very comfortable in it, since it showed off a lot of her body and she'd be standing in front of a lot of people, but her training outfit showed off even more than this. Of course, she wasn't in front of a crowd of strangers when she wore her training outfit. Her shoes were white and a little plain-looking with a small heel. She put on a little pale pink lipstick, eyeliner and pale eye shadow. It was the most makeup she'd ever worn.

She was feeling a little queasy. She'd have to sing a song she so loved for a person she so loved in front of a lot of people. It was enough to make anyone nervous. But she never thought herself to be the type who suffered from stage fright. Or was it stage fright at all? Maybe she was just nervous because she had no idea what Goten's response would be. While hoping for the best, she had to keep in mind the worst.

--soon--

Backstage. She never would have thought that in her wildest dreams she would be backstage preparing to perform. She'd never even been in a school play. Well, except that one time waaaaaaaaaaay back during first grade when she was a narrator for some play. She didn't remember it very well, but there was a little play bill around the house for it that her mother kept for her scrapbook. Her mother always kept weird stuff like that.

Hunter stood in a corner playing acoustic guitar.

"Hey, Bra. Did you want to practice a little before we do the song?" Wes asked. He was cleaning his bass.

Bra looked at him for a while, like she couldn't understand the words he had spoken. She shook her head. "I think I'll just do it when it's time to do it. I'm hoping it'll have a better effect that way." She knew nothing. She wasn't even sure if her singing's any good. She just hoped that she'd be able to do the song. And of course she hoped that Goten would at least stick around long enough to hear it.

Nick came backstage. "Alright. I talked to the owner. He's heard us play plenty of times and he'd be glad for us to add a song to the set..."

There was a strange look on Nick's face. Bra put her hands on her hips. "Let me guess. You didn't tell him that the song you've added will be sung by a different person, did you?"

Hunter looked over at Nick.

Nick looked a little surprised. "Well, no."

A move like this could very well be the end of this group's reputation. That was really the last thing Bra needed on her conscious. Being the end of a perfectly good band's career.

Silence...

Todd laughed. "This is kinda cool. It's a great way to make a name for ourselves as being one of the most unpredictable acts in town. Awesome."

Nick looked around the room.

Wes smiled.

Hunter nodded.

Bra raised her eyebrows. What a crew. Were they actually happy about this whole last minute surprise act?

"Alright then. There's nothing left to it but to do it," Nick said. "Let's go put on a show."

The other guys hopped up and headed out to the stage.

Nick walked over to Bra.

Bra looked up at him.

"It's your first show. Good luck out there tonight," Nick told her with a smile.

Bra folded her arms across her chest and smiled a little. "It's my only show..." She walked toward the door. "Thank you."

"Wait. Where are you going?" Nick asked.

Bra turned toward him and smirked. "I have to make sure the guy I'm doing this for is actually here."

Nick looked up. "Of course. Don't forget. After we do Artificial Intelligence, it's your time to shine."

She watched him leave. This man may have very well just saved her relationship.

When she heard the opening riff to the obvious fan favorite, 'Metal is My Catalyst', she peeped out into the crowd. There were tons of people in that place tonight. Her friends were easy to spot. Marron was in the front row ogling Wes. Pan standing in the front row as well, screaming her little head off. And finally, there was the one she'd been looking for.

Goten looked like he wasn't all that interested in being there. While everyone else around him was standing, he was seated. Pan had to make him stand so he could watch the performance. He just stood beside his niece with his hands in the pockets of his jeans. His oversized long-sleeved shirt seemed to swallow him. And even though there was a somewhat tired look on his face, he slowly seemed to get into the music.

Just seeing his face made Bra's heart flutter. She didn't remember him looking as handsome as he looked tonight. He actually looked his age and for some reason it was very appealing to her. If this plan did not succeed, what would she do? Not only will she have publicly humiliated herself, but she will have lost Goten for good.

As she gazed at his form for what seemed like hours, she realized that this was what loving someone was all about. It was the reason her mother and father had been together for so long. Because life without the other just wouldn't be worth living. Bra knew that finding that person in life was not always as easy as it had been for her. She'd basically known all her life that Goten was the one for her. Acting on it was supposed to be the hard part. Well, now getting him back would be the hard part.

"Thank you, ladies and gentlemen," Nick said on the mic. "That was the song 'Artificial Intelligence'..."

The crowd cheered and Bra gasped. That had to be her cue to get out on stage. She headed toward the stage.

"Now, I know that's supposed to be the last song of the set, but we've got a very special encore performance for you tonight," Nick went on saying. The crowd quieted down a little. "This last song will slow things down a bit. It'll be sung by a friend of mine."

Bra slowly made her way over to the mic and hugged herself. Wide-eyed, she stared out at the crowded place. She could hear her heart beating loudly in her ears. Was this stage fright?

Eroder began playing the intro to the song, but Bra only faintly heard it over the beating of her own heart. She took a deep breath and only stared at the microphone.

The crowd began to murmur amongst themselves as the band played the intro once again.

But Bra was speechless. She couldn't begin. She just slowly scanned the faces in the crowd.

Nick walked over to her and covered the microphone. "Are you alright?"

Right before she turned to Nick, she made eye contact with Goten. He looked completely shocked to see her standing there. She finally looked at Nick and cleared her throat. "I'm fine."

"Okay, we'll take it from the top again," Nick told her. He walked back to his rightful position on stage and cued for the band to begin again.

Bra looked back at Goten and removed the mic from its stand:

_"Look into my eyes and you'll see I'm the only one_

_You've captured my love stolen my heart_

_Changed my life_

_Every time you make a move you destroy my mind_

_And the way you touch_

_I lose control and shiver deep inside_

_You take my breath away_

_You can reduce me to tears with a single sigh_

_Ev'ry breath that you take_

_Any sound that you make is a whisper in my ear_

_I could give up all my life for just one kiss_

_I would surely die if you dismiss me from your love_

_You take my breath away_

_So please don't go_

_Don't leave me here all by myself_

_I get ever so lonely from time to time_

_I will find you anywhere you go_

_I'll be right behind you_

_Right until the ends of the earth_

_I'll get no sleep until I find you_

_To tell you that you just take my breath away_

_I will find you anywhere you go_

_Right until the ends of the earth_

_I'll get no sleep until I find you_

_To tell you when I've found you_

_I love you_

_Take my breath take my breath ... away"_

Once Bra was done singing, she realized that there were tears running down her face. And she could no longer stop herself from hopping off stage and greeting the man she'd sang the song for.

Bra stood before Goten with the microphone still in hand. It was as if no one else in the entire building existed. All she was aware of was Goten's presence.

Goten just stood there looking at her with that same surprised look on his face.

She couldn't tell whether this was good or bad, so she decided to break the silence. "I...love you, Goten."

He slowly moved both of his hands toward her face and wiped the tears away. Then he smiled. "Now, was that so hard?"

Bra laughed and fresh tears fell from her eyes.

--End 10:15 on a Saturday Night--

--Well, now. I hope you liked this episode better than you liked the last. It's a bit on the sappy side, but I think it was very appropriate. Let me know what you think. Did you like it? Did you hate it? There's only one way I'll know and that's if you tell me.

--Thanks for past reviews and thanks for putting up with my weirdness. I've always got something strange up my sleeve even if sometimes this story writes itself. Which it hasn't been doing lately, may I add. It put me in a situation and then left me out to dry. You can kinda tell when the episodes are writing themselves because there's less time between updates.

--Anyway, thanks for reading this episode. Let's find out what'll happen next.

--The above song, "You Take My Breath Away," belongs to Queen.


	6. Breathing Is the Hardest Thing to Do

Versus 4: Temporal Distortion

--Breathing Is the Hardest Thing to Do--

To her surprise, Goten's face changed. Where he had once been smiling, there came a serious expression. "We have a lot to talk about." Yet he continued to wipe her tears away.

She couldn't actually hear him say it, but she could imagine by the motion of his lips that that was what he had said. Of course, he wasn't gonna be completely won over. She'd made an attempt on his life. For some strange reason, this Son had a lot less of his father in him than most people knew. He was identical in looks and sometimes in his mannerisms, but he seemingly wouldn't be so easy to forgive someone who'd tried to dust him off. And so the expression on his face put her more in mind of ChiChi. And so did the unspoken statement he had made.

And the reason she didn't hear his statement was the audience. The crowd cheered all around them. Bra was a little startled when she noticed she was still in this place full of people. She looked around and she could feel the heat rising to her face.

"Wow, Bra! That was really good! I had no idea you had a voice like that!" Marron shouted over the noise of the crowd.

Bra looked over at Marron and raised her eyebrows. "Well, I... I never actually thought I had a good voice."

"What!" Marron yelled over the sound of the people.

Marron couldn't hear what she was saying. Bra looked back at Goten and saw that he was smiling again. She wondered if she'd just been seeing things earlier. But that didn't seem likely.

Pan hopped over and hugged Goten and Bra, one arm around each of them. "This is great! This is the kinda thing I like to see! You two are just so crazy about each other, it would be silly for you to be apart!" She let them go and looked at Bra. "I can't believe you were singing like that! I mean, I've never really heard you sing before, but that was amazing!"

Was her singing really that good? She was just trying to get the words right.

Todd seemed to appear out of nowhere. "Whoa! Is this the lucky guy you were singing to!" He looked at Goten. "It's not every day that some woman would do this for a man!" He raised an eyebrow and looked at Bra. "Hey, isn't this your teacher!"

Bra looked surprised. She hadn't thought this whole thing out very well. Half the people in this town knew who Goten was. And the entire town knew who she was. Word would definitely make its way back to school.

She looked at Goten, who was now wide-eyed and speechless. She looked around to see if she could get a little help with this situation. Pan looked like she was trying to think Bra out of this. That was good because Bra's mind wasn't working at the moment. Marron was up on stage chatting with Wes.

And then there was Nick. She could tell by the look on his face that this was a shocking discovery.

The crowd was finally quieting down and the DJ started putting on those sorry tracks that they played in clubs these days.

Suddenly, Bra felt a hand on her shoulder. "Come on. Let's go," Goten said to her.

Bra didn't hesitate. She didn't even say good-bye to her friends or the members of Eroder. Abandoning all else, she simply followed Goten out of that place like the lost little puppy she was.

For some reason, she felt so much stronger than she once was. She'd always been strong-willed. She'd always stood her ground when it came down to it. But today. No, today was different. Today, she'd actually let feelings of love control her, instead of being fueled by anger or frustration. She'd always been told that letting your emotions take control was a weakness, but that could only been when it wasn't utilized properly. And even though it was something completely new to her, it felt right.

The two strolled along the sidewalk down the semi-lighted street side by side. Silently. At least for a little while.

"You look really nice today," Goten told her.

When she looked over at him, she saw that he was looking at the sidewalk beneath them. "T-thank you." Stuttering was so inelegant.

They were silent again for a moment.

"Goten?" Bra began. She stopped under one of the lamp posts and looked up at him.

Goten stopped as well and finally looked at her.

Bra sighed. "What happened yesterday, I'm really sorry--"

Goten shook his head. "I don't want you to be sorry about that. We're fighters. It pretty much comes along with the territory when you think about it."

Bra looked at him strangely. "But...I left you there. We're friends. That doesn't come along with the territory." She hugged herself and looked away.

"Well, I want to tell you that I wasn't hurt by it, but that would be a lie," Goten told her. "But I know what you were talking about when you said I'd kept you from reaching your full potential. It was my job as a trainer to push you as far as you'd go. But I guess I lost sight of that. I just wanted to protect you. There was really no reason for you to fight. I would have fought for you."

Bra was about to say something, but Goten held his hand up to stop her.

"But I know that's not who you are," Goten went on. "As Saiyans, it's not who WE are. I tried to protect you. And I tried not to hurt you. So, I didn't use my full power. And I lied about it because I thought that if you knew what I could do, you'd push yourself harder to get to where I was. I'd seen the way you'd push yourself and I knew you'd hurt yourself. I didn't want to see that. I was selfish. I wanted to keep you from what you wanted just for peace of mind."

"Oh, Goten. It's not selfish to want to protect someone," Bra said. "What's selfish is trying to hurt someone just because you don't get your way. I was being a BRAT, as usual. I don't want you to go around thinking all of this was your fault, because it wasn't. It was mine. I don't deserve for someone to care for me the way you do."

"Well, that's not gonna change," Goten assured her. "I'm always gonna look out for you. And I'm always gonna care about you. So if you think you're ever gonna get rid of me, you've got another thing coming. You really WOULD just have to kill me." He laughed a little.

Now why was he laughing about that? Was he becoming as psychotic as she already was? Perhaps the old saying was true. Maybe insanity was contagious.

"Oh, and just to let you know, I fought you at full power yesterday. You wore me out," Goten told her. "It was a little unexpected. But I think if we had a rematch, I'd be able to give you a run for your money."

"You actually want to fight me again?" Bra asked. This was great. Maybe Goten really was more like his father than she gave him credit for. She smiled to herself.

"What did you think? That you'd scared me off with all your strength and skill?" Goten questioned.

Wow, he sounded much closer than she remembered. She looked up and saw that he was standing only a few inches away from her.

Goten smiled. "I hope you understand. Now that you've become stronger, I'll be training twice as hard to get to your level."

Bra smiled back. "That's gonna be kinda hard when I'll still be training too."

"Then I'll just have to train 4 times as hard," Goten whispered as he moved even closer to her.

Bra gasped when he put his hands around her waist. Being like this made her remember why she loved being so close to him in the first place. She started feeling tingly all over and her head seemed to spin. Without warning, she quickly threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. Just a peck on the lips. It didn't take long for her to remember the feeling. It sent a shock down her spine and made her neck hairs stand on end. Or at least that was what it felt like.

She decided to levitate up to his level so she could kiss him again, this time burying her tongue in his mouth. His hands started slowly making their way up her sides and she felt his tongue stroke hers. It was good to know that they were both currently in the same state of mind.

Goten suddenly stopped and looked at her strangely.

Bra looked a little confused. "What?"

"What was that?" Goten asked, still holding her.

"What was what?" Bra questioned, rolling her eyes a little. Why couldn't they just get back to what they were doing?

"That thing you just did. That vibrating thing," Goten told her.

Bra looked confused again. What vibrating thing? She didn't do anything. Or at least she didn't remember doing anything.

"Did you just purr? You purred or growled or something. How did you do that?" Goten asked.

Purr? She hadn't purred... Had she? She just looked at him the same way.

"That was kinda...well, it was kinda...cool," Goten went on. He smiled stupidly.

The little wheels in his head seemed to be turning. Now what in the world could he be thinking?

Bra raised an eyebrow. "I think that was your imagination."

Goten played at the sheer material covering her midriff. "Maybe you're right."

Bra gasped yet again as he ran his fingers up and down her sides. She was no longer able to concentrate on keeping herself in the air, so she just lowered herself back to the ground. Soon she found her tongue dancing with Goten's again and his hands had wandered to her hips. One hand was even slowly creeping inward--

"Goten," she'd whispered before she could catch herself. She had no idea that their bodies were pressed so tightly together. "We're in public." She seemed to be a little dizzy and out of breath.

When Goten removed his hands from her body, she felt as though a part of her soul had been snatched away. "Once again, you're right," Goten said. He put an arm around her shoulder and started walking with her again.

Bra sighed and folded her arms across her chest.

Silence for a moment.

"Where are we going?" Bra asked Goten.

"I...don't know...," Goten replied. "I should probably take you home. It's getting pretty late."

Bra pulled up the sleeve on the arm Goten had around her and looked at his watch. It was pretty close to 11:30. Maybe it was time for her to head home. She sighed once more. "I'd rather go back to your place," she murmured. She wasn't sure what possessed her to say that.

"What?" Goten asked.

Now had he asked that because he hadn't heard her? Or had he asked because he couldn't believe she'd said it?

"Yeah, it's getting pretty late," was all Bra said. "Home it is."

That was a close one.

--End Breathing Is the Hardest Thing to Do--

--Well, Versus 4 looks like it might be on the move. Hope you liked it. Well, it looks like Bra and Goten are back together. So what now? There's not much of a story left if Goten and Bra have patched things up, now is there? Well, we're just going to have to see what happens in the episodes to come.

--Thank you for reading this episode of Versus 4. Thanks for your wonderful reviews. You're much too kind. Thank you. Thank you. And thank you. Thanks everybody.


	7. Delta Blues

Versus 4: Temporal Distortion

--Delta Blues--

Bra sat in her open window, facing the night sky. She started swinging her feet and looked at Goten. He had, of course, been kind enough to escort her home and was now levitating outside her window.

"You did a fantastic job with that song tonight. You have a really nice voice," Goten complimented. "Makes me wish you'd sing more often."

It wasn't the first time she'd heard that particular statement, in so many words, that is. Marron had said it. Pan had said it. The audience had given her a standing ovation. But it meant much more coming from Goten.

"Thank you," Bra said. She could feel that her face was a bit flushed. "But I don't plan on making it a habit. At least not on stage."

"I never would have thought you of all people would get up in front of a crowd and do something like that. That's not really your thing," Goten went on.

Bra nodded. This was true. She couldn't deny that. "Never be surprised at how far I'd go for you." She looked into his eyes. His were a set of eyes in which she could easily become lost. And it didn't take much. All she had to do was look into them. It was like they compelled her to say, "I love you." It was the second time she'd said it. And as she found out, there was honestly nothing hard about saying it. What, then, had kept her from telling Goten for so long?

Goten looked at her for a long time and smiled that smile of his. At first, he seemed to be speechless, but he soon responded. "I love you too, Bra."

When he said that, Bra leapt into his arms and hugged him tight. It had happened on impulse. She simply wormed her way into his arms and put her arms around him as though she were trying to keep warm. She held onto him so tightly that the only way they could have been closer is if they were to fuse somehow.

She lay her head on his chest and listened to his rapid heartbeat. Had she startled him?

"It's been a long d--" Goten began.

Bra planted a brief kiss on his lips and smiled at him. She could stay here with him for the rest of eternity just like this. She just held onto him and they levitated there silently for a long time. She was getting all kinds of strange feelings being here with him like this. Her entire body felt as though it were pulsating as she embraced him. She'd actually had no intention of doing any of this, but it felt like the right thing to do.

Goten laughed a little. "Bra, we've gotta stop."

Bra raised her eyebrows. He was laughing at her. Why would he be laughing at her like this? She frowned. "What now? Did I do something wrong?"

Goten held her away from him and put his hands on her shoulders. "You should really go and get some rest."

"You never answered my question," Bra stated, putting her hands on her hips. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No, you didn't do anything wrong. Actually, you're doing things a little too right. That's why you should go inside and get some sleep. And that's why I'm gonna have to leave," Goten told her.

'Doing things a little too right'? Bra smiled to herself. She knew what he was talking about now. For some strange reason, her little brain hadn't registered it yet. All the feelings she was having as she hugged him and every time she kissed him. She'd somehow forgotten about that level of things. So, she wasn't the only one feeling those things. It was only natural, she supposed. What did she think? That she was the only one having those feelings? How blind could she be?

"Um, yeah. I'm leaving," Goten said. But he just floated there.

Bra smiled at him. "I guess I'll see you some time tomorrow." She too only stayed where she was.

They stared at each other for a long time.

"Oh! Right. I-I'm leaving," Goten stammered. "I'll see you later." He started slowly flying backwards away from her.

"Goten, look out behind--" Bra began.

Just as she was saying that, Goten backed right into the tree outside her window. He laughed a little. "That's kinda embarrassing." He moved into the clear, then waved to her. He finally turned around and flew off.

Bra sighed. "I think...I made him lose his mind." She almost couldn't believe he'd lost his cool like that. Then she had to remember who he was. This was Goten, a goof in their youth and now just a bigger version of what he was back then.

It was the reason he forgave her for nearly killing him. She'd really lucked up to find a guy like this one. Someone who would forgive her for doing something that stupid to someone she cared so much about.

And he hadn't said it, but she was sure that he wanted them to be more than just friends.

She sat back in her window and stared up at the stars.

--Sunday morning--

Bulma was walking around in the living room carrying what looked to be a large collection of papers. She ran the fingers of her free hand through her hair. She even seemed to be muttering to herself.

Bra had walked in on her a couple of minutes ago. It was a bit disturbing to see her mother in disarray like this. "Uh, Mom?"

Bulma was obviously startled. She'd dropped the papers, which Bra could now see were just a couple of very long sheets of paper, and turned around. "Bra, don't scare me like that."

Bra could see already that her mother had pulled an all-nighter. "What's up?"

"I can't make any sense of this. That's what's up," Bulma told her.

Now what was she babbling about? Bra walked over to her mother and saw that what she had been holding was a bunch of electroencephalograph readings. She helped her mother pick them up and looked at them. Bra knew a lot, but she had no idea how to read something like this.

"Come again?" Bra said.

"Your brain waves are disturbingly erratic. The only thing I could make out is that there's a hidden wave on the reading," Bulma said. She held one of Bra's charts up so that she could see it. "You see, this here is the normal frequency and amplitude for someone who's meditating and going into the early stages of sleep. The theta wave." She pointed across the smaller, wider peaks on the chart.

Bra looked at the chart and noticed that the wave they were studying was relatively high and then sometimes it peaked even higher more dramatically. "Alright. So what's the deal with the parts that spike up like that?"

"Well, that's the hidden wave. Now, normal delta waves have a high amplitude like that, but they're normally slow moving. As you can see, the high amplitude waves on your chart also have a high frequency," Bulma explained. "In other words, when you're sleeping, the waves are supposed to be big and slow. And when you're awake you're supposed to have waves that are small and fast. But you have some waves in here that are big and fast. It would probably be okay if you were awake the whole time, but this wave was present from the moment I hooked you into the EEG. Even when you're in the deepest phases of sleep, that hidden wave is there. The amplitude of a delta wave, but the frequency of a beta wave. It's somewhat baffling."

Bra went through some of the other charts. "All of these are my readings?"

Bulma laughed a little. "No. This one is my reading." She held it up for Bra to see. "Normal." She held up another chart. "I had a theory. This one is your father's."

Now when did she convince her father to have one done?

Bra folded her arms across her chest. "It looks kinda like mine."

"Right. I was thinking that maybe it's just a Saiyan thing," Bulma went on. "I'd have to do further research in order to see whether it's right. I'm pretty sure that's what it is, though. I'm gonna see if I can get the other Saiyans to come over and let me hook them up to the EEG over the next week. Then I'll be able to tell you more." She frowned. "I hope. Whether it's a Saiyan thing or not, I want to know what causes it. There has to be some explanation."

Bra rolled her eyes. What a waste of time. She sat here and listened to her mother's chatter for absolutely nothing. She could have been doing something more constructive with her time.

"Well, I hate to abandon you in your time of need, but I think I'm gonna go over to Trunks' place," Bra told her mother.

"But Trunks had to go to work today... Gonna go see if you can work things out with Goten, huh?" Bulma asked.

Bra turned her back to her mother and smirked. Her mother had no idea she'd already made up with Goten. She wasn't about to let her in on that bit of news. "I'll see you later," Bra stated, ignoring the question.

--End Delta Blues--

--This episode went absolutely nowhere. And after such a long time between updates too. We've just gotta hope the next one goes somewhere. Thanks for suffering through it.

--Your reviews are greatly appreciated. It lets me know whether I should keep writing or just disappear off the face of note: Yes, the title of that one chapter was from an old Cure song, but a lot--and I mean A WHOLE LOT--of the names of my chapters and stuff are titles or phrases from songs. (That's why some of the titles are longer than they should be.) They don't always coincide with what goes on in the episode. Well, sometimes they do and sometimes they don't. I think that one in particular did because, though it was never mentioned in the episode (at least I don't think), you can imagine it took place around 10:15 that Saturday night. Very nice observation, though. Thanks for bringing that up.

--Enough prattle. On to the next episode.


	8. My Sunday Feeling

Versus 4: Temporal Distortion

--My Sunday Feeling--

Goten answered the door with his award-winning smile. Well, at least it SHOULD have been award-winning. "Wow, I wasn't expecting you until later on today."

Bra smiled back at him. "What can I say? I missed you."

Goten moved so she could enter. "I missed you too."

They both took a seat on the sofa and sat silently for a while.

Bra was about to say something, but Goten was about to speak as well. They both stopped short and just at each other.

"You can go ahead," Goten said to her.

Bra smiled. "Nah, you go."

"Well, I was just gonna ask you how your day's been going," Goten went on.

She thought about the whole wave thing and frowned. She really didn't feel like going into all that. There would be no purpose. She didn't even know what it all meant. So she answered, "Fine. Couldn't be better." She played at the designs on the sofa.

"So, what were you going to say?" Goten asked.

What WAS she going to say? She looked up at him and tilted her head to the side. "Ummmm..." She looked around the room to see if something there would remind her of what she wanted to say... Nothing. "It slips my mind," she replied with a laugh.

Goten laughed a little. "You can be so silly sometimes." He sighed and just looked at her for a while. "So, what do you wanna do? We already beat Halo and there aren't a whole lot of other 2-player games out now. Not good ones anyway."

Bra immediately knew what she wanted to do. He'd said he would do something with her a while back, but they never got the chance. "It's Sunday. Do you think there are a lot of people at the pool hall?"

"Sunday? In the middle of the day? Of course not," Goten told her. He stood and took her by the hand. "Come on! Let's go before a lot of people decide to show up."

Bra stood and laughed as he pulled her out the door.

They silently drove to the pool hall. Bra could almost feel every breath Goten took. Maybe she was just paying a little too much attention to him these days. In any case, she was happy just being with him. There was no need for them to chatter amongst themselves. Their being together said much more than any words could say.

The parking lot of the place was virtually empty, aside from one car and one truck. That truck looked familiar for some reason...

Bra hopped out of Goten's capsule car and stretched.

"I was gonna open your door for you," Goten told her once he got out of the car.

Bra smiled. "Oh, you don't have to do that. There's no reason to try to win me over with good manners. I already know how sweet you are." She watched him as he walked over and stood in front of her. She leaned against the car and folded her arms across her chest.

Goten shook his head. "I'd just like to do things for you. I'm not trying to win you over. Hopefully, I've already done that." He smiled and put his hands on her face.

"Yeah. You've already done that," Bra said, blushing and looking away a little. "You did that a long time ago."

Goten moved one of his hands closer to her mouth and gently touched her lips. "Same here."

Bra could only look at him.

"Alright. Let's go shoot some pool," Goten said. He took one of her hands and they went inside.

Just as she suspected, the place was pretty much empty. There were a couple of workers behind the counter. And then there was a group of guys playing pool at one of the back tables.

Goten just walked over to one of the tables in the other corner and pick up a pair of cue. "So, you've never played pool before, huh?" He offered her a stick.

Bra shook her head. "I pretty much know the rules of the game, but I've never played it." She looked at the stick, then at the chalk laying on the table.

"Well, maybe you can get a little practice in while I get some change for the table," Goten said. He walked back to the front of the place where the change machine was.

Just as she was about to pick up the chalk, a cue ball flew over and knocked it off their table. Bra looked in the direction the projectile had come from and immediately recognized the guys on the other side of the room.

Kori - age: 18 - Captain of the football team, he stands 6'4" and has straggly blond hair. He's a jerk of a human being and has a reputation at their high school for being a womanizer. He had a run-in with Goten a while back and vowed that he would get Goten back for making a fool out of him at his own school.

Wright - age: 17 - He's Kori's taller (6'8") friend with short black hair. A master of stating the obvious, he can be chatty sometimes and will believe almost anything he hears. He's not really a bad guy. He just got caught up with the wrong crowd.

Patrick - age: 18 - He's Kori's shorter (5'11") friend. He has long brown hair and doesn't seem to have the ability to talk. No one at the school has ever actually heard him say anything, so most people just assume he's mute.

So, that was why that truck in the parking lot looked so familiar to her.

The idiot captain was the culprit. He stood there now with his cue in one hand and the other hand on his hip. "Well, if it ain't Little Miss Capsule Corp."

"We probably shouldn't mess with her, Kori, man," Wright warned.

The one named Kori ignored him. He continued to speak to Bra. "Never thought I'd see you hanging out in a place like this."

"Looks like she's playing pool," Wright added.

Kori finally looked at him. "Yes, I know that." He looked back at Bra and started making his way over to her. His lackeys were right behind him.

Just when she'd been on such a good trend of thinking positively, here came trouble. She didn't even want to see this guy. Why couldn't she choose to come here on a day when these clowns weren't around? Noooooooo. She just happened to have the urge to play pool when the biggest jerk on the face of the planet was around. And she definitely didn't mean that in a good way.

"You know, CC. I saw the strangest thing last night," Kori began. He stood right in front of her.

Bra just folded her arms across her chest and looked up at this lumbering giant. It was a look that would have turned him to stone had she had the ability to do it.

"You see, my pals and I went to this club the other night," Kori went on.

Club? Oh, this wasn't going to be good.

"We wanted to see our favorite local band play," Kori continued. "But at the end of the show, we saw you up there in this really hot dress. You sang a song that took me by surprise. Then I saw who you were singing it to." He threw his cue down on the floor and it broke. "What's up with that?"

Whoa. He was saying it like she'd just cheated on him. Bra looked down at the broken cue, then looked back up at Kori nonchalantly.

"Hey, what's going on over here?" Goten asked once he showed back up. He had a pocket full of quarters.

Bra just kept looking at Kori.

"Now I know why you defended this pretty little thing a couple of weeks ago. You two've had something going on right under everyone's noses. I should have known," Kori said.

Bra ground her teeth. This guy was really getting on her nerves. He was underestimating her again. She didn't need someone to defend her. She could take care of herself just fine.

"I told you you'd made a dangerous enemy," Kori told Goten. "Now I'm gonna show you what it's like to be pummeled by an all-star."

Kori ran at Goten with a punch. Just when Goten was about to dodge it, Bra phased between them and grabbed Kori's fist with ease.

Patrick looked surprised.

"I told you, Kori, man. We never should have messed with this girl. She lifted a car," the tall Wright said.

Patrick nodded.

The black-haired jock was referring, once again to the incident during Bra's first year of high school. She'd made it her priority to strike fear into the hearts of the entire student body. She'd lifted a car around 6 or so people and the story's been circulating ever since.

Kori was astounded. "But...you're just a girl."

Bra squeezed his fist a little and he let out a cry. "You should have listened to your friends. Now get out of here before I break your hand."

"Hey, Kori, man. That's your throwing hand. If she breaks it, it's all over," the goofy one named Wright said.

Goten put a hand on her shoulder and she released the dummy's hand.

"Argh!" Kori said, pulling his hand away and hugging it to his chest. "Alright, Capsule Girl. I was thinking about honoring you by letting you be my girlfriend--"

Bra laughed to herself.

"But I see you'd rather stick with geeky teachers," Kori continued. He looked from Bra to Goten. "You've both made a dangerous enemy. I won't be made a fool of in my own pool hall."

His pool hall?

Bra flexed up at Kori and his crew and they all cowered.

"Let's get outta here," Wright said.

"This isn't the last you've heard of me!" Kori called to them as they scurried out of the place.

Goten looked at Bra. "Temper, temper."

Bra put her hands on her hips and turned to him. "Well, it's no worse than what you did when you first met him."

Goten thought back on the incident, then laughed. "You're right." He frowned. "You know, word'll probably get back to the principle about us."

Bra frowned and looked away. "I know..." She didn't want him to lose his job. He seemed to like it a lot. What in the world were they going to do now?

--End My Sunday Feeling--

--It was a long time coming, but it finally made it out. I'm sorry for the long wait. I've been adjusting to my new work schedule. Finding time to do these is getting harder and harder. But I hope you enjoyed it.

--Personal Rant: This computer I'm forced to work with is SUPER annoying. It has a virus on it that my virus scan can't seem to pinpoint and it's making everything super slow. And I know there's a virus on it because it's been teasing me with viruses ever sinced I came back. I hate even working with the stupid thing. What it used to take me 3 minutes to do, it now takes 45 minutes. My internet takes 15 minutes to even show itself. (I'm on satellite. This isn't even dial-up.) Then it takes another 5 or so for my home page to come up completely. Then I have to go to another site to do what I want to do, so that takes about 10 more minutes. By the time I've checked my email, it's time for me to go to work. I hate you, computer! I hope you burn in hell! (Once I get rid of you, that is.)

--There. I'm glad that's off my chest. Anyway, thanks for reading this silly little chapter and thanks for reviewing past chapters. You're a great audience. Please stay tuned for the next episode of Temporal Distortion.


	9. All That We See or Seem

Versus 4: Temporal Distortion

--All That We See or Seem--

Goten and Bra had a great time yesterday. They played pool. They had lunch at that little Mom and Pop's restaurant that Eroder liked to go to after shows. That place was definitely a little richer after the two almost ate them out of house and home.

That was the funny thing about most teenage girls. They're ashamed to really eat in front of their boyfriends or guys they liked. So they just end up nibbling on a salad or something like that. Not Bra. She wasn't about to nibble anything. When she ate, she ate. It must have been the Saiyan in her. Pan didn't seem to have that problem either. It would have been interesting to see other female Saiyans. Bra wondered if they would have behaved the same way.

Anyway, then they just drove around town for a while. No reason in particular. They were just riding around. She didn't mind it. She just enjoyed sitting there beside him. And they chatted a bit. Mostly about nothing at all. Goten had brought up the subject of marriage briefly:

--------

_"Well, I'm 24. I want different things in life now than I did when I was younger. I used to say that I never wanted to get married," Goten had said during their drive. "But now I do want to get married. Not immediately, of course. I mean, we still have to wait until you're done with college."_

_Bra had blushed. She couldn't believe he was actually saying that he wanted to marry her. She wasn't sure how to respond to that, so she'd remained silent. It made her heart race just to hear him talk about it._

_By the time she decided to respond to that particular statement, he had changed the subject, asking her what she wanted to take up in college. She didn't have a definite answer for that question, but he assured her that she wouldn't have a problem in anything she decided to take, seeing how she was the smartest person he knew._

--------

Her heart raced even now just thinking about when he talked about marrying her. But then the guilt kicked in. The guilt of wanting to end his life only a couple of days ago. He'd said that it was all a part of fighting, but she knew better. She could almost see it sometimes when he looked at her. It was there in his eyes, so stale and distant. No one else would have noticed it because it was only there for a short while. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he would surely think about it. Even if it was just for a split second, the thought of what she'd almost done to him would cross his mind. Then it would leave and his eyes would regain that warmth she'd loved so much.

Still, he wanted to marry her someday. It was amazing, really. Unbelievable...

Then they returned to Goten and Trunks' apartment, only to find that Trunks still wasn't at home. Bra couldn't remember exactly how it started, but they'd ended up making out in Goten's bedroom. Things were about to really start heating up when they heard Trunks come in. So, as anyone could imagine, that put a stop to their fun.

She was beginning to become a little frustrated lately. She felt they should take the next step. Move on to something a little more physical. Or maybe it was the hormones talking. She couldn't be too sure. Logic wouldn't rear it's head in this part of her life anymore, so she was a trifle lost when it came to things like this. She'd always felt that she was intelligent enough to think her way through any situation. If she thought about something from all angles, there would be a logical answer there for her. But apparently, she was wrong. Her body wanted something that both her heart and her mind wanted, yet there was something, some force, that kept it from happening.

If she was feeling this way, she was sure that Goten felt the same frustration, even though he would probably never say so. He was quite a gentleman about all of this. He would never force her into these things. They'd just happen. But she could feel something in his touches. It was almost like he was having mixed feelings on the whole situation. His was a hard lot. On the one hand, he had this young woman who was making herself available to him. And on the other hand, he still saw this inexperienced girl.

In any case, they were being hampered by fate. Always bringing their alone-time to a dramatic close. A sign from the forces of nature, she supposed. And so she and Goten ended their day killing Brutes in Halo 2.

He took her home around 9:30 that night and once he gave her a farewell kiss, she ventured to the kitchen. There she crossed paths with Nick Carnage. She barely even noticed him there.

"Hello, Ms. Bra," Nick said to her when she entered the room. He sat at the kitchen table alone this time. Now, what was he doing just sitting there?

Bra smiled. "Hi there, Mr. Carnage." She was in bliss. She'd just spent the entire day with the man she loved. Nothing could be better. When she finally focused on Nick, she saw that he was looking at her strangely. She already knew what this look was for. He was about to question her about her relationship with Goten.

"You did a great job with that song last night. I wanted to congratulate you as soon as you were done," Nick told her. He paused. He looked like he wasn't quite sure what to say.

Bra looked away. "Thanks."

Nick raised an eyebrow. "Um, I saw that when you finished the song, you went over to Mr. Son, your history teacher."

Bra looked back at Nick and folded her arms across her chest. "I did."

"Is he the one you were singing that song to?" Nick questioned.

It should have been pretty obvious. Bra didn't answer him right away. She just unfolded her arms and looked at her feet. This was unlike her. She'd been so humble these past couple of days, she wasn't even sure what personality traits she possessed anymore. She used to be so much like her father. Now...

"I mean, it's common for a student to have special feelings for his or her teacher," Nick went on.

He sure liked to pry. Bra wasn't about to let this guy get away with questioning her like this. She would simply have to fight fire with fire. "Just as common as a worker having special feelings for his or her employer." She looked back at him. It was probably a very sassy look, too.

Nick looked a little surprised. "I-- What? What made you make that comparison?"

He knew he was busted. Bra crossed her arms again. "I overheard you and my mom talking a couple of days ago."

There was a long silence.

"Well, now...," Nick finally spoke. "There's no reason to go into great detail on either of those fronts. I just couldn't help noticing that the feeling seemed to be mutual with your teacher. I guess that means that your song did what it was intended to do."

Bra nodded slowly. "Thank you for letting me get up there and sing. I mean, it could have gone badly for you guys. I know it was a risk."

"It was nothing. The crowd seemed to love it. The guys in the band thought it was excellent," Nick told her. He smiled. "I'm glad things turned out well for you."

Things HAD turned out well for her. Much better than she could ever imagine. She'd won back the heart of the man she loved. And now that they were 'UNofficially officially' together, she would never let him go.

Bulma stepped into the kitchen, still carrying the EEG charts around. She didn't even seem to notice them sitting there. She opened the fridge and poured a glass of milk, then turned toward them and gasped. She took a deep breath and steadied herself. "Hi, Nick. Hi, Bra."

Bra just watched her mother as she took a seat at the table.

"Do you ever sleep?" Nick asked her mother.

"Of course. As a matter of fact, that's where I'm headed now," Bulma responded. She took a sip of her milk and looked at Bra. "Pan's been calling you like a mad woman all day long. I'm sure she's been calling your phone too. I tried to answer it a couple of times, but she'd never let it ring long enough. Then when I called back, I only got Gohan."

Bra sighed. Pan must have been calling the question her about last night. "I'll talk to her at school tomorrow."

Just as Bra was about to head out of the room, Bulma spoke again. "You've been gone all day. Should I assume that you worked things out today?"

Bra just turned to her and smiled, then she turned back to exit the room.

She could almost feel both her mother and Nick watching her leave. The last thing she heard was her mother mutter, "Teenagers."

Bra went to her room and smiled to herself. Her life was on track now. She was in love and she'd finally told him that she loved him. She almost couldn't believe she had said it. And her father had told her she would probably never say it. HA! What a laugh. There was nothing she couldn't do. She was the orchestrator of her own destiny.

The phone rang and for a moment, Bra just looked at it. She knew who it was. So much for talking to her at school.

"Hello?" Bra answered.

Pan screamed on the other end.

Bra had to look at the phone strangely. Then she put the phone up to her other ear. "What is wrong with you!"

"What are you doing answering the phone?" Pan asked.

Bra rolled her eyes. "It's MY phone. You called, right?"

"Well, I expected to talk to the answering machine. You NEVER answer your phone right away," Pan said. "Where've you been all day? Where did you go last night? What happened?"

"Calm down," Bra told her friend. "Count to 10 or something, geez."

"I don't have time for something like that. What's the word?" Pan asked. "Come on. Out with it. It had to be something good if you disappeared last night and I'm just catching up with you tonight."

Bra could heard Pan giggle. It made her blush to think what Pan might be thinking. "Well, nothing happened really."

"Lies! Don't lie to me, Bra. So are you guys back together or what?" Pan questioned.

Bra shrugged, but remembered that Pan couldn't see what she was doing over the phone. "I don't know."

"How could you NOT know? You've been with him since last night, right?" Pan interrogated.

"No! Nooooooooooo," Bra told her. "I'll tell you how things went." She sighed. "Okay, last night, we left the club and went for a walk. We talked for a while. That's all." She left out the part about making out in the street. There was really no need to tell her that. "He took me home after that."

Pan was silent. Yes. Pan. Silent. It was amazing.

"And today we just hung out," Bra continued.

"What is this? What are you telling me?" Pan asked.

"I'm telling you that I told him I love him and--" Bra began.

"I know that. I was there when you said it. Good for you. But you still don't know where your relationship stands?" Pan asked.

Bra narrowed her eyes. "Well, he forgave me for trying to kill him. I think that was a big step."

"Yeah, a big step into another rut," Pan said. She laughed a little. "You two are something else."

Bra had wanted to leave this part out, but Pan wouldn't be satisfied until she heard something that was directly related to the state of her and Goten's togetherness. "He...said that he wanted to marry me..."

"He proposed to you? Whoa! Now why didn't you tell me--" Pan started.

"He didn't propose, you scatterbrain!" Bra said.

"Scatterbrain!" Pan interjected.

Bra took a deep breath. "Why are you making this so hard? We were just talking and he made the comment that he wanted to get married some day, but after I finished college. That's all."

"That's all? That sounds like a proposal to me. He just didn't have the ring," Pan told her. "So, you two ARE together?"

"We're together, but we're not," Bra said.

Pan sighed. "So which one is it?"

Bra growled. "It's not that simple! We still have some things to work through."

"Okay... So, as you stand now, what exactly do you consider yourselves?" Pan asked.

"You're just asking the same question in different ways," Bra laughed.

"And you're just giving me different non-answers," Pan said. She laughed as well.

"I'm going to bed," Bra told her. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Wait! The least you could do is tell me what you've been doing all day," Pan pleaded.

"Goodnight, Pan," Bra said. She hung up the phone before Pan could say anything else.

In a way, Bra knew that she and Goten were together. And in a way, she wasn't sure where they stood in their relationship. Maybe they had just gotten back to where they were before the fight. That was all she really wanted, right?

--End All That We See or Seem--

--Thank you for reading this insanely fractured episode. I know it's kinda all over the place, but sometimes that's just the way someone's day goes. It kinda reflects how I've been feeling lately, I guess. All over the place. I hope it was understandable and I hope it made sense. Since these episodes have decided they wouldn't write themselves anymore, I've been having a bit of a hard time getting things done. I like it better when they take over.

--Thank you for your reviews, past and present. Your support means everything to me and to this story.

--I know this is a hectic time of year for everyone. Just hang in there. Whether you're having nonstop fun or you're fighting to do Christmas shopping, I wish you the best.


	10. No Recess

Versus 4: Temporal Distortion

--No Recess--

Bra headed down the hall to her first class of the day. It was now her favorite class. After the weekend she'd been through, she thought she'd never want to come here again. But she'd finally worked things out with her favorite teacher. They were now unofficially officially together, whatever that meant for them. And she had nothing to worry about.

When she made it to the classroom door, she looked in and saw that Goten was cleaning out his desk.

Oh, no...

"Goten?" Bra said as she entered the classroom.

Goten looked up at her and sighed. But he smiled anyway. A fake plastic smile. "Hi, Bra."

Bra looked around at the things that were already in boxes. "Goten, no."

Goten went back to cleaning out his desk. "It's probably for the best. I mean, we knew what we were getting into."

"But, Goten...," Bra began.

"Besides, it's not like we won't get to see each other anymore. Just not at school," Goten said.

Bra sat in a nearby desk and hugged herself. She wasn't sure what to say or think.

They were both silent for a while.

"What...? How...?" Bra asked. "You were fired?"

Goten nodded. "It was only expected. The principal pulled me aside this morning. He told me that other teachers were saying that me and a student at the school had some kind of romantic relationship going on."

Whoa. That whole singing in front of a crowd thing had been a huge, HUGE mistake.

"So, I told him that it was true. There was no denying it. Especially when so many other teachers had called him about it this weekend," Goten continued.

Oh, boy. Teachers were there? Bra thought that there were only students at that club. She'd really done it this time.

"Goten, I'm so sorry. I didn't think before I did that," Bra told him. She looked at the floor. "I never wanted you to lose your job."

"Listen, Bra. I'd rather lose this job than to lose what you and I have. YOU are what really matters to me. I can always find another job," Goten assured her.

Bra couldn't help being angry at herself. She was smarter than this. It had been selfish to do what she did simply to get back on good terms with him. It cost him his job and any recommendations he may need in the future.

"And don't worry. You guys are gonna have a substitute teacher," Goten said. "I don't know what's gonna happen after that. Hopefully they don't stick all of you in Mrs. Fleckinstein's classes."

"I think it's Flinglestein," Bra corrected. She shook her head. "Anyway, I don't care about who's going to teach the class when you're gone. What are you going to do now that you don't have a job?"

Goten shrugged. "I'm sure something will come up." He started closing up his boxes.

Bra looked at him for a long time. "Goten, I'm sorry."

"There's no reason to be," Goten said. "I'd much rather have things turn out like this. You and I will be able to hang out as much as we want wherever we want and no one will be able to say anything. Well, except for the fact that you're under age. But it's better than any alternative I can think of. Try not to worry yourself too much about it."

She knew that he was right. Things had definitely turned out for the best for her. But Goten was now jobless. There had to be something she could do to help.

The classroom door opened and Pan stepped in. She seemed to be in a peppy mood. She made her way over to them and almost tripped over a box, but that didn't wipe the smile off her face. "Gooooooooood morning," she sang. She looked around the room and her smile slowly started to fade.

"Hi, Pan," Bra greeted sadly.

"Good morning, Pan," Goten said, sounding rather distracted.

Pan frowned. "Oh, come on. For a couple who's finally gotten back together, neither of you seem very happy. This is supposed to be a joyous occasion." She looked around at the boxes again. "Okay, what's this, Uncle Goten? Did you have something special planned for class today?"

Goten smiled sadly. "I'd like to tell you that's what it is. I really would. But the truth is that I won't be teaching this class anymore. I probably won't be teaching at all anymore."

"Why? What happened?" Pan asked.

Goten sighed and began to tell the tale.

Bra could only stand there and listen to Goten explain things to Pan.

"Can they really fire you for hear-say? I mean, there has to be some--" Pan began.

"I confessed to the relationship. I think denying it would have only made things worse for Bra and me," Goten told Pan. "But don't worry. Everything will work out. It's just a job. Don't get in a panic over a job."

Goten was right about that. It WAS just a job after all. Maybe she was overreacting about this whole thing.

"What really matters is that Bra and I can be together freely," Goten continued. He smiled and looked at Bra.

"Yeah, well, try not to take that to the extreme," Pan suggested. "She's still a minor, you know. There is a law against having sex with a minor. Consensual or not." She giggled a little.

Bra blushed deeply. She couldn't bring herself to look at Goten. She couldn't believe that Pan had just openly said something like that. Of course, this WAS Pan. She shouldn't be surprised by anything the quarter Saiyan said or did.

"Pan!" Goten almost shouted.

"Then again, what the law doesn't know, the law can't enforce, right?" Pan insinuated. She laughed out loud this time.

"Pan!" Goten almost shouted again. He looked around. "Listen, I want to make it out of here before any of the other students come in. I'm sure rumors will be flying all day." He looked at Bra. "You're gonna have a hard time today. I feel bad for you. People will want to ask you questions. Just try not to blow anyone's head off."

He took her hand and just held onto it for a while.

Bra looked into his eyes and was able to see a calmness there. A kind of relief. So much so that she could almost feel that same calmness and relief within herself. Maybe this was what it felt like to have a kindred spirit. To share some of the same emotions. To feel the same joys and the same pains. Maybe things were looking up for their relationship.

Bra smiled. "I won't."

Pan clasped her hands together and smiled at them. "This is great. I love seeing you two like this. I can't wait to tell my mom and dad."

The two just looked at her, then back at each other.

"I gotta go," Goten said. He finally released her hand. Collecting his boxes, he made his way out of the classroom.

Pan looked at Bra for a while after he left, but was silent.

This was a little shocking, so Bra started to get a little nervous. "What? What's that look for?"

"Are those or are those not hickeys all over your neck?" Pan asked.

Bra gasped quietly and blushed. There was nothing she could say. She'd forgotten about the passion marks that Goten had left after their two days of making out.

Pan giggled rather loudly. "I thought you two just talked. Talking doesn't make hickeys. And I could swear I saw some on him too."

Bra was speechless once again. She'd been called out and there was nothing she could do or say to deny it.

"That's so cute. You two make the best couple in history," Pan said.

Ironically, they did make the best couple in 'history'. It was too bad that their 'history' together was now over. She had rather enjoyed having Goten as a teacher, though she had to admit, having him as a boyfriend sounded better.

But then she thought back to why she and Goten broke up the first time before they even got together. Would her lack of life experience become a problem again? Or had they settled that issue when she was finally able to tell him that she loved him?

--End No Recess--

--Another long wait for yet another short episode. I'm sorry about that. This holiday season has been in shambles since before it even started. But I'm back together for the time being. And I know that this wasn't a very good episode, but there will be more to come.

--I won't complain about this computer anymore... sigh

--Thank you for reading this episode of Temporal Distortion and thank you for the reviews of past episodes. I always look forward to hearing from you. I know that sometimes there's not much to comment on, but whenever you do get around to commenting on something you see, it's always appreciated. You're a wonderful audience.


	11. Success Story

Versus 4: Temporal Distortion

--Success Story--

And indeed, Bra had a long day. She remained calm as people, both students and faculty, questioned her about her affair with her former history teacher. Like it mattered anymore anyway. They had quarantined him from that place. But she never raised her voice. She never lost her cool. She simply gave them looks that reminded them of the car incident during her first year of high school. And once one group of people left her alone, another group would question her. They received the same treatment. It went on like this all the live long day.

Without Goten around, things became a bit of a bore at school. If she didn't have to attend in order to finish, she wouldn't. And once that thought crossed her mind, the statement Goten made yesterday reemerged:

_"I used to say that I never wanted to get married," Goten had said during their drive. "But now I do want to get married. Not immediately, of course. I mean, we still have to wait until you're done with college."_

She definitely had to complete high school in order to make it to college. And she looked forward to the day she finished college now more than ever.

Bra and Pan flew toward Capsule Corp. after school. Bra wasn't quite sure why they were both going to her house. Pan had just insisted that they both head there. But she didn't really care. She had Goten and all was right with the world, even as Pan assaulted her ears with chatter.

"...problems because Uubu's back...again," Pan was saying. "She just told me this last night."

Must have been something about Marron and her triangular relationship with Wes and Uubu. How could she be thinking about Marron, Uubu and Wes when her uncle was now out of a job? Out of a job because of their combined idiocy. She and Pan had both caused this. Pan had to come up with the idea for Bra to sing in front of everyone. And Bra had accepted this foolish plot as something plausable. Yet it had worked. So maybe Bra shouldn't complain, but there was still the fact that Goten was now unemployed because of her. Which all comes back around like a nightmarish circle of blame. Selfishness.

"But she never knows how long Uubu's gonna stick around, you know," Pan went on. "I have to agree with her. She can't spend her life waiting for someone she's not tied down to. I mean, my grandma waited for my granddad all the time, but that's because they were married and had kids together. What does Uubu expect her to do? Wait for him every time he disappears without a trace? Believe me, I know there's such a thing as dedication, but you shouldn't have to wait for someone if you don't know when they're coming back, or if they're ever coming back at all."

Bra nodded slowly as they landed at their destination. The slightly taller chatterbox had a point. It was strange how Marron and Uubu's relationship worked. Marron was crazy in love with the man. And from what Bra could tell, he was crazy in love with her too. It was hard to see it on Uubu's end sometimes because he was a fighter. One of his main focuses in life was to become strong. But there comes a time in every fighter's life when he or she must decide what should be sacrificed and what should be saved. That sacrifice may only be for a short while, but you had to make that decision in order to differentiate between what you wanted for your life and what you didn't want. What you could live with and what you couldn't live without.

Bra had to sacrifice her pride in order to get back the man she would have been unable to live without.

But only for a short while.

Bra opened the door and to her surprise, Nick was already there. He stood when they came in.

"Wow. It's Nick Carnage," Pan whispered to Bra, tugging on the sleeve of her shirt.

Bra looked at Pan out of the corner of her eye. She couldn't believe that even after they had been spending time together, Pan would still react this way. Maybe she had a thing for him and Bra just didn't know it.

"Hi, Bra. Pan, it's good to see you. A bit of a surprise, but it's good to see you nonetheless," Nick said with a smile.

Now what was this guy so happy about? He looked like he might burst at the seams.

Pan took a deep breath. "Hi."

"Hi, Nick. I see you're home early," Bra commented.

Nick nodded. "Yeah, I've gotta get a few things together. I've got great news."

Get a few things together? Great news? What was he talking about?

"The other night when we played, a talent scout was there to hear us. He was very interested in our sound. He wants us to perform in Vegas. All expenses paid," Nick told them.

"Nick, that's great!" Pan exclaimed. She ran over and threw her arms around him.

Nick looked a little surprised when Pan embraced him.

Bra smiled. "That IS great. Congratulations."

"Thanks. Both of you," Nick said. He looked at Bra. "It'll be a one week deal, so I won't be here to help you study for a while. I've already talked to your mom. She said that she was actually the one who had the scout come and check us out."

Bra laughed. "Are you kidding? My mom did that for you guys?"

Nick nodded.

Bra folded her arms across her chest. "This is a great opportunity for Eroder. I could tell from the first time I heard the band play that you guys had amazing talent. Now you can share it with another audience. You may even be able to get a record deal."

"That would be awesome. I'm sure you could get one easily," Pan said.

"Hold your horses, ladies. Let's not jump the gun on this. We're just going to take this one step at a time," Nick told them with a smile. "I'm so psyched."

"When are you leaving?" Pan asked.

"Actually, our plane leaves in about an hour," Nick stated.

Bra looked surprised. "Then go. You don't have time to waste here with us. Go, go, go. Get packed." She shooed him away.

"Congratulations. Go," Pan said.

"Thanks ladies," Nick said as he left the room.

"That's really great news," Pan said to Bra. "I can't imagine how excited they must be."

Bra nodded.

Pan thought for a while. "Wait. Eroder's leaving for a whole week, right?"

Bra frowned. "What's going through that evil brain of yours?" She knew Pan. Everything she did or thought was devilish.

"Well, I mean, Eroder's leaving and Uubu's just coming back into town. I'm just saying that it must be fate allowing Marron to make a decision on her relationships with these guys," Pan explained. "There. Nothing evil."

Bra looked at Pan for a long time. "Nothing evil. I'll believe that when pigs fly."

Pan smiled and rolled her eyes. "Come on. Let's find your mom."

Her mom? What for?

"My mom? What for?" Bra questioned.

"Yeah, your mom. She didn't tell you?" Pan asked.

Tell her what? Bra just looked at Pan, expressionless.

"Your mom asked for me and my dad to come over and do some kind of test," Pan told her. "That brain thing you were telling me about the other day. That...electric-slide-photograph?"

Bra laughed in Pan's face. "Electroencephalograph," she corrected.

"Listen, I don't care what it's called. You're the smart one. YOU keep up with the name. It's the head test to me," Pan said. "My dad's supposed to be here now if he got done at work early."

Bra smiled. "I'm sure that if they're anywhere around, they're in the lab. Come on."

Once they reached the lab, they saw Gohan sitting on the examination table.

Bulma was busy taking care of the charts that had apparently just finished printing.

"Hi, Bra. Hi, Pan," Gohan greeted.

Bra knew that Gohan and Goten looked a lot alike, but for some reason, it really showed today. It caused her the inability to speak to him immediately.

"Hey, Dad," Pan sang. She hopped up on the table and sat beside him. "How did things go?" She put her arm around him.

"She put me to sleep, so I can't be too sure how it went," Gohan told her, putting on his glasses.

Bulma laughed a little. "Don't worry, Gohan. Everything went well. I have to evaluate your brain waves a little later, but so far everything looks normal." She looked at the girls. "Hello, Bra. Hello, Pan. Are you ready?"

"Do you have to drug me?" Pan asked, looking a little nervous. "I'm not a fan of needles."

"Pan, this is for a good cause. You should do what Bulma asks of you," Gohan said to his daughter.

Pan pouted. "But I hate needles," she whined.

Bra raised her eyebrows. Being put to sleep would probably be something new for Pan.

"It'll be quick and it won't even hurt. I promise," Bulma assured her.

Gohan hopped off the table. "Come on, Bra. Let's leave them to their own devices." He put his hand on Bra's shoulder. "How have things been going today?" He lead them back to the living room.

Bra smiled. Her future brother-in-law had always been nice to her. He really reminded her of Goten in a lot of ways. Videl was lucky to have snagged one of the only other Gotens in the world. ChiChi, of course, had the other one.

Then she frowned. She remembered exactly how her day had been. Well, it wasn't HER day that had been bad. It was Goten's. "I got Goten fired."

Gohan looked confused as he took a seat on the sofa. "You got Goten fired?"

Now why did he feel the need to repeat it? Hearing it come from him made it sound even worse. "It's a long story," Bra told him. She decided to stand rather than sit beside Gohan. She looked away.

Gohan looked at her for a long time, but when she didn't say anything, he spoke up. "Do you plan on telling that long story?"

Surprisingly enough, she would tell him that long story. She'd never been the type to spill her guts, but she had a feeling that if she didn't tell Gohan everything now, she would feel even more guilty than she had when she assaulted his little brother. Besides, it was the right thing to do. If she planned on someday becoming a part of this family, she would have to come clean about a few things. She would start from the beginning, when she fought Goten and left him for dead. Maybe he would understand. Maybe he wouldn't bash her for doing what she did.

--End Success Story--

--There seems to be a trend here. Bra seems to be changing for the better these days. Will this trend continue? Or will this new and somewhat unusual behavior trigger something else? Find out in the episodes to come.

--Thanks for reading this episode of Temporal Distortion. Thank you for the reviews. I know there hasn't been much time between these episodes, but the holidays put me in a weird space. You understand, I'm sure.


	12. Part 12: Living in the Past

--Note: This takes place between the first and second episodes of Versus.

Versus 4: Temporal Distortion

--Part 12: Living In the Past--

During the summer right before school began, Bulma had a small gathering and all the Z Warriors and their families were invited. Surprisingly enough, a lot of them showed up.

Bra looked over at Goten and her brother.

"Psst! Bra!" Goten whispered. He did the 'come here' signal.

Bra folded her arms across her chest and walked over to them. She caught Trunks in the act of rolling his eyes.

"Hi," Goten said. "Look at you. It's been such a long time. What's up?"

There he was. The guy she'd had a crush on all her life stood before her now. The man it took her at least 4 years to get over, now having the same effect he had on her all those years ago. "Nothing really. Just school and training. What about you?" Bra said, trying to sound at least slightly disinterested.

"Well, I've got a bit of funny news for you," Goten said. "I'm going to be teaching at your school. History. You're in one of my classes. Wild, huh?"

And Bra's world shattered. All within a breath Bra went from a carefree teenager to a panicky crush-ridden adolescent. "Y-yeah, that's pretty wild..."

She couldn't think straight. How was she supposed to think straight when the person she'd promised herself she would stop loving was back for good and teaching at her school? It was a calamity. It was a comedy in its truest form.

"I'm really excited about it," Goten stated. He looked at her for a while. "You know, it's really amazing how much you've changed these past couple of years."

Before she could even stop herself, she said, "Six. It's been six years." She looked away. "I don't think I've changed that much."

"Sure you have. Look at those muscles," Goten pointed out. He poked one of her arms playfully.

Bra just looked at his hand and blushed a little. She couldn't believe he was touching her. Make no mistake, he'd touched her in the past, but that was when she was much younger. She was older now and her hormones were almost completely out of control. She wasn't sure what to think, really.

Trunks just watched them for a while, then laughed to himself. "I'm gonna go see what Gohan and Videl are up to." He wandered off.

Bra frowned at her brother as he walked away. When he got to his destination, Pan showed up as well. Her brother seemed to be the center of attention with that family...

"--can't say that I'm surprised you're as short as you are," Goten was saying. "I mean, your mom's not all that tall and on the right day, I'd swear that your dad's shorter than her." He put his hands on his hips and smiled at her.

She knew he meant no harm. He never meant any harm. Not 6 years ago and surely not today. But that wouldn't stop her from saying something about his comment. "You're not that much taller than me, you know." And as she looked up at him, she realized it was the wrong thing to say. She only stood 5'1" and he was somewhere between 5'10" and 6'0". Yet, for some reason, she stood by her statement.

Goten laughed a little. "You're funny."

Was that sarcasm or was he serious?

She noticed that he was just looking at her for a while. Was he really that surprised that she had gotten a little taller and a more muscular? She'd told him that she'd been training, after all. He'd changed some as well, little did he know. She'd noticed his expansive shoulders and less childish-looking face, though his expressions remained so.

She almost wanted to kick him in the teeth for not visiting her for a whole six years. She thought that they were closer than that. Then he just left one day and never came back. It took her almost a year to come to grips with the fact that he was really gone. How could he do this to her? He had to know that she'd looked up to him for so long. She'd been training under him for the longest time. Whenever she wasn't training with her father, she was training with him. Had he even taken into account what kind of effect his absence would have on her fighting?

"You know, I was a little surprised when I saw that you would be in my class. It seemed kinda weird, but in a way, it seemed kinda right," Goten continued. "I mean, I've been teaching you about fighting, but nothing else, really. Now I can teach you something besides fighting."

Yeah, something she hated. How would she be able to make it through the school year denying her feelings for this guy when he would be standing in front of her daily?

But before she was able to let all of this fully sink in, she felt someone behind her tap her on the shoulder. When she turned to see who it was, she saw her mother and Yamcha standing there.

"Wow, Bulma. You said she looked just like you, but I thought you were exaggerating," Yamcha said.

Bulma smiled. "Yeah. Isn't she a little beauty?"

Bra blushed and looked away. How embarrassing this was for her. To have her mother's old boyfriend look her over like she's some car he used to drive. Besides that, she hated for someone to even bring up her looks. It was one of the things she hated, really. She prided herself on intelligence and strength. To even mention her looks was something she didn't take well to.

"It's true. Seeing her makes me think back to when you and I were dating--" Yamcha began.

Out of nowhere Vegeta showed up beside Bulma. Anger was written on his face as he eyed Yamcha.

"Hey, Vegeta, I was just telling Yamcha what a lovely daughter we have," Bulma commented with a smile.

Bra looked a little surprised. Her mother seems unaware of the fact that her father was jealous. It would have been pretty obvious to anyone else, but for some reason, her mother just couldn't seem to pick up on it today. It was funny that her father would become so openly jealous anyway. Bra had seen them interact in similar ways, but Vegeta usually keep his cool. He knew that if his wife were to see him react in jealousy, she would have the power. And he would never hear the end of it. And she would get a big head about it. That was definitely something Vegeta didn't want.

For some reason things were different today. Vegeta was openly jealous and Bulma hadn't noticed. Bra supposed that was the situation's way of neutralizing itself.

Nevertheless, Yamcha backed off a little. "Don't worry, I'm not after your daughter."

What? Oh. Maybe that was why the whole jealousy thing with her mother and father had been so strange. Yuck with a capital Y-U-C-K! He was her mother's age.

So she wandered off to let them sort out the rest of that ridiculousness. And of course, she didn't have to wander far before she realized that Goten was standing right in front of her. Well, behind her actually.

"Oh!" Bra almost shouted.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to startle you," Goten said with a smile.

Had he been there to hear the conversation? Of course he had. They were both still close enough now to hear what the group was saying even without their Saiyan ears. Bra just decided to block it out.

"Where are you going?" Goten asked.

What was his damage? She was trying to get over him, yet here he was still. She couldn't blame him for not knowing that she wished to forget the feelings she'd once had for him. But wasn't it enough that she would have to see him everyday at school?

"I just thought I'd visit your mom and dad," Bra told him.

Great. She was going over to see HIS parents. This was no way to get over him.

"Really? Mind if I join?" Goten asked. He walked up beside her as she made her way over to Goku and ChiChi.

"Um, Goten. They're your parents. I'm sure you see them all the time," Bra commented. Why wouldn't he just go away? She was trying her best to lose him. She was convinced that she could get over him if she tried hard enough.

Goten looked at her with those eyes of his. Those dark dark eyes that could snatch the soul straight out of your body if you let them. "I don't see them as often as you'd think. Come on. They might not recognize you, so I'd probably better re-introduce you to them."

He was being so nice to her. She couldn't help giving in to his offer. So she followed him over to Goku and ChiChi. Goku was eating everything in sight, as always. And ChiChi was scolding him for being so rude, as always.

"Hey, Mom. Hey, Dad. Do you remember this little lady?" Goten asked his parents once he reached them. He presented Bra.

Both of Goten's parents turned around to see who he was talking about.

"My goodness. If I didn't know any better, I'd swear you were Bulma," ChiChi said to Bra. She smiled warmly at her.

It was nice to see ChiChi in such a good mood. Even after shouting at Goku.

"Yeah, except you're shorter. And you're built more like a fighter," Goku added with a mouth full of food.

"Goku!" ChiChi said a little louder than she should have.

Bra couldn't be sure which part ChiChi was scolding him for this time. The fact that he was talking with his mouth full, or the fact that he was talking about Bra's body structure. Knowing ChiChi, it was probably both.

She smiled at them. "It's good seeing you both. I just thought I should come over and say hi. I haven't seen you two in a while."

"It's good seeing you too, dear. I think the last time we saw you was a few years ago. You've really grown. You're a young lady now," ChiChi said.

Bra blushed. Growing up was such a big deal to everyone. There was no way they expected for her to remain a child forever.

"Hey, Goten. Didn't you say something about being Bra's teacher?" Goku asked.

"Yep. She's in one of my classes," Goten replied, smiling that big air-headed smile of his.

And now it was time for the many interruptions that were bound to occur at a gathering of this magnitude.

Pan and Trunks walked over to them.

"Heeeeeeeeeeeeeey!" Pan said to Bra.

Bra rolled her eyes. This quarter Saiyan was greeting her like she hadn't seen her in years, when in fact, they had only recently pulled off the caper of the summer. Pan had decided that they should impress their parents by showing them how responsible they could be. That they could make their own money if they wanted. So they held a car wash. It had turned out relatively well, but Pan had decided to turn her water hose on Bra. So, of course, Bra demanded satisfaction and did the same to Pan. But not before Pan had snapped a few pictures.

"Hi, Pan," Bra sighed. Pan had a nasty habit of getting people into trouble no matter what the situation.

"Wow. Pan's taller than you," Goku pointed out to Bra.

"So, she is," Trunks said.

Goten chuckled.

Oh, so now it was time to make fun of little Bra? If she wouldn't have been reprimand for it, she would have powered up and knocked all these clowns out.

Pan looked at Goten and frowned. "YOU!" She ran over to him and punched him in his arm, though she put no effort into it at all.

"Whaaaaaaaat?" Goten whined like the blow really hurt.

"You've been gone for years and I didn't even hear from you," Pan said. She put her hands on her hips and looked at him with playful anger all over her face. "Don't you at least know how to pick up a phone?"

So, he had gone missing from her life for a while too? At least she wasn't the only one.

"I bet you kept in touch with Trunks and Bra," Pan continued to complain.

Bra's only response was "Hmph."

"Well, he kept in touch with us," Goku said.

ChiChi nudged her husband and smiled at Pan. "We probably should have let you know on those FEW occasions he came home. We're sorry, honey."

So, Goten HAD come back from time to time. How very disappointing it was to hear something like that. He hadn't even bothered to come over and see her. Of course, he hadn't even seen his own niece...

Again with the interruptions. Bra saw Marron coming from a mile away. Bright and flamboyant. It was a sign that she should disappear.

And Bra did just that. She quietly crept out of the house while no one was paying attention. Everyone there seemed to be right at home in that environment anyway. She was the only one who didn't belong. Well, except her father.

But her discomfort during this social gathering was not her primary concern. She would have Goten as a teacher if she didn't do something fast. Her first plan for tomorrow would be to get to school early and get a new history teacher. It would be easy. That way, she could work on getting her mind off of Goten enough to rid herself of the emotions she could feel were quickly trying to come back.

--End Part 12: Living In the Past--

--Boy, that just kinda went along like a freight train and then ended, didn't it? I hope you enjoyed this strange episode of Versus 4. I know it kinda came out of nowhere and it kinda went nowhere, but I just felt the urge to do something...strange. Why go back and do this point in time? I don't know. I was writing and that's what it turned into. There may be inaccuracies. I don't know. I tried not to, but sh-- happens, you know.

--As always, thank you for taking time out of your busy day to read this and thanks to those of you who took time out of your busy day to write a review.

--Eventually I'll read other people's stories and review them. I know some folks asked me a while WHILE back to do that. And now that I've got a little free time, I think I'll see what I can find. But the strange thing about that is that I'm a huge fan of comedies. I'm just not very good at writing them myself. I mean, personally, if I saw this story while going around trying to find something to read, I'd skip it. It's romance and drama. While I do like romances, I'm not the biggest fan of dramas. And that's exactly what this quadrilogy is. The other funny thing about this is that Bra and Goten aren't my favorite couple. I mean, they're a close second, but ChiChi and Goku are my favorite couple. I never read any of their stuff, though. Actually I don't read much because I'm always writing or working or schooling. But that's all about to change.

--Kinda chatty today, aren't I? Am I still talking? I guess I'm still writing...


	13. Rain Song

Versus 4: Temporal Distortion

--Rain Song--

Bra lay on her bed, staring at the ceiling. She'd been thinking about Goten ever since she told Gohan about the blunder of the century. Well, actually, she thought about Goten all the time, so that was no big surprise. She could go and visit him any time she wanted. So why was she laying here instead of going over to see him? Was it because she'd been the reason he lost his job? Or was it because she knew that Pan would be looking for her when she awoke from Bulma's experiment?

In any case, she wanted to see Goten. The more she thought about him, the more she could understand almost every love around her that had stood the test of time. Her mother and father. Goten's parents. Marron's parents. Pan's mom and dad. They all had different dynamics, but they all had one thing in common. Unconditional love. No matter what happened in their relationships, there was always that one thing that remained. Bra could see that sometimes it was hard. She'd watched her mother and father struggle through their differences time and time again, but there was something that kept them working. And even though her father never said it to her mother, Bra was sure that her mother knew that he loved her. For actions sometimes tended to speak louder than words.

Bra felt like a whole different person these days. Nothing was the same for her anymore. She had her Goten. And Goten had her. It would take all of Hell to keep them apart now.

Her phone rang and she listened to it for a while. The irritating tone sang through the room as she lay on her bed with her eyes closed.

Finally, she had worked her way into making Goten hers. And sure, they would have their problems. Every couple did. But they would always share this unconditional love.

But he was now jobless for it. She couldn't help feeling guilty about that. He'd risked so much just to be with her. Not just his job, but his life. For that, she could never forgive herself. Even if he did.

She listened to her own voice on the answering machine: "This is Bra's line. Leave a message." And there came the beep.

"Oh, hey. I thought you'd be home from school, but I guess you're not. Unless you're training, I mean," Goten's voice echoed.

Bra almost fell off her bed in her attempt to pick up the phone. "Goten." She was happy to hear from him.

"Oh, hi, Bra. What's up?" Goten asked.

"Oh, nothing. I'm really sorry about what happened at school," Bra told him.

Goten's laugh sounded a little different over the phone. "I told you. Don't worry about that."

Bra fell silent for a moment. "I'll try. I won't even talk about that anymore."

"Good," Goten said. His voice was peppy enough. He sounded almost a little too happy. "So, why'd it take you so long to pick up the phone?"

She lay on her back on the bed. "You know, I never answer my phone unless I know who's calling. It's a habit."

"You and your habits," Goten murmured. But it was loud enough for her to hear.

Bra stared and the ceiling and furrowed her brow. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, I can't say it's a habit because I've only heard you do it twice. Well, I FELT you do it twice," Goten said. "It's kinda funny. I've been thinking about it a lot."

What was he babbling about? She shook her head. "You're not making any sense, Goten."

"Remember after you sang that night? When I told you that you purred?" Goten asked.

Bra nodded, but he wouldn't be able to see what she was doing through the phone. "I remember." How could she forget a night like that? She remembered the night, but she didn't remember purring or whatever he was accusing her of.

"Well, you did the same thing yesterday when we were together," Goten told her. "I didn't say anything about it because...well, I didn't want to interrupt...what was going on." He paused.

Bra blushed deeply. She remembered that time too. It was only yesterday, so of course she would remember it. She had even lost her shirt for a short period of time. Before Trunks had shown up, that is. She finally broke the silence by saying, "You left hickeys."

"So did you," Goten laughed.

Bra gasped. Pan had told her that she saw hickeys on Goten's neck, but she hadn't paid much attention. So, it was true.

"Your brother's been teasing me about them since he got off from work," Goten said.

She was a little surprised to hear that her brother had actually gone home from work at a decent time. "My brother's not nearly as bad as my mom's gonna be once she sees mine," Bra almost whined. She giggled a little. But her giggles were cut short. "And if my dad sees them..."

"Don't you worry about your dad," Goten told her. "I think he's coming around on the whole me and you thing. He and I may even get to be friends one day."

"I don't know about that. He's still on bad terms with your dad," Bra sighed.

"Well, I hate to tell him, but we'll all be family once you and I get married. So he'll have...," Goten commented.

Bra lost track of anything else he might have said about that. She was just overwhelmed that he was talking about this marriage thing again. And so openly. Seemingly without a doubt in his mind. She felt a blush rise to her cheeks and her heart began to race.

She imagined their life together. They would raise a wonderful family of mixed Saiyans and they would be strong. They could invite everyone to their home for reunions. And their family and friends would dote on their little ones and tell them about the old days.

And she and Goten would watch their children grow up. They'd have arguments over how to raise Saiyan adolescents and teens. Eventually the kids would decide what they wanted to do with their lives. They would soon leave the nest and she and Goten's life would start anew. After raising strong, intelligent children, they would be able to sit back and relax, knowing that their kids were going the right directions with their lives. Goten and she would grow old together and annoy each other with their quirks from time to time. It would be a fantastic life.

Suddenly Bra had an idea. An idea so wild that she was surprised that she was the one who came up with it. HA! She was the one who came up with it. She'd have to let Pan in on this one. She was pretty impressed with her own--

"Helloooooooooooooo?" Goten sang.

Bra shook herself back into reality. "Huh?"

"You didn't fall asleep on me, did you?" Goten asked with a laugh.

Bra smiled. "No. I was just thinking."

Goten was silent for a moment and she knew what was coming next. "What were you thinking about?"

Yep. She saw that one coming. Classic telephone question in relationships #1. She sighed quietly. "About how much I love you."

What a mushy comment. She never thought she'd be one of the people who would say something like that.

"I love you too," Goten said somewhat quietly.

Suddenly there came a rapping at her chamber door.

Bra rolled her eyes. Interruptions, interruptions. Now who could this be? Was it her mother? Was it Pan?

As she made her way to the door, she continued to talk to Goten. "I was thinking about coming over this afternoon, but my mom's doing this test on Pan and--"

"Oh, the brain wave test? Yeah, your mom called and left a message for me and Trunks. She wants to do ours tomorrow," Goten said. "If you came over here today, you'd get soaked."

Soaked? Bra looked out of her window. It was amazing. She hadn't even noticed that it had started to rain in that short period of time between coming home from school and now. It had been so sunny today. Where had this rain come from?

She opened her door and saw her father standing there. "Oh, hi, Dad," was all she could say to him. She was a little surprised to see him there. He was usually out training, rain or shine. "Um, Goten, I gotta go."

"I heard," Goten told her, referring to her father's arrival. "Okay, I'll talk to you later. Bye."

Bra turned off the phone and moved aside so the Great Vegeta could enter her room.

Vegeta walked past her silently and looked at the multitude of cds and video games on her bookshelves. "What has your mother been up to?"

Why was he asking her this? Why didn't he ask her mother?

"Why do you ask?" Bra questioned. It had been on impulse. She hadn't really thought about who she was talking to until the question was already out.

Vegeta turned to her with an irritated look on his face. "I am the one asking the questions here." He looked at her for a while, and then anger reared its ugly head. "What's on your neck?"

Bra blushed and folded her arms across her chest. He had to know what they were because if he didn't, he probably wouldn't have asked. She was surprised that he was in the mood to even ask all these questions. Something must have been bothering him.

"It's...it's nothing, Papa," Bra answered, keeping her eyes downcast. She hoped that if she called him 'papa', he may take it easy on her.

Vegeta laughed a false laugh. Bra could feel his eyes on her. She could only imagine the look on his face. "Nothing?" He laughed again. "You've got some nerve telling me that, when I can see plain as day what those are."

Then why was he asking her what they were? Bra frowned. She could almost feel anger rising in her, yet she had no reason to be upset. But she remained silent, finally looking up at him.

His expression was serious. "Your mother. What is she trying to do?"

That was amazing. He dropped the subject. Maybe he remembered that she's just as stubborn as he is when she wants to be. She raised her eyebrows. After a moment she sighed. "I'm not sure of what you're asking me."

"What are all those papers she's been carrying around lately?" Vegeta asked.

So, he noticed that. And all this time she thought that he never paid attention to her mother. Actually, her mother probably didn't know that he had been paying attention to her. Now what made him think that she knew? Sure, she knew. But what gave him the idea that she would know? She figured she should give him a straight answer since this seemed to be getting under his skin for some reason.

"Mom has this theory about what I've been going through lately," Bra began.

"Oh, no. You see, this is what happens when you get people who think they know everything involved in something they have no clue about," Vegeta said, rolling his eyes. He folded his arms across his chest. "This is about your fight with that clown's son, isn't it?"

Bra sighed again. "Actually, it's about a little bit more than that, but that is the main issue. I never really told her the details of that incident."

Vegeta gave her a look that told her she should tell him exactly what was going on.

His interest in her relationship with a man he didn't really even like astounded her. Perhaps it was not the relationship that he was so interested in. Perhaps it was the way she was reacting to it.

--End Rain Song--

--Hey. That's it for that chapter. Another long wait. What can I say?

--Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this episode. Thanks for the reviews. And thanks for the patience. I'll see you next time.


	14. A Little Rain Must Fall

Versus 4: Temporal Distortion

--A Little Rain Must Fall--

She felt that there were certain things she could tell her mother freely and certain things she could tell her father freely. She'd gotten a pretty good handle on which was which over the course of her life. She could talk to her father about things that dealt with fighting and training. And she could talk to her mother about things that dealt with technology and people. It kept things simple. The person who specialized in fighting should be consulted about fighting. The person who specialized in relationships should be consulted about relationships.

But now that some aspects of her life were beginning to meld together, things weren't so simple. Mostly with her father. She'd talked to him about relationships on several occasions. Her current situation was no different. So she would tell him her story.

"You knew I had feelings for Goten a long time ago," Bra started. "I won't go into any of that. I'll start when he came back from being gone for all those years."

Vegeta took a seat at her desk silently and folded his arms across his chest.

Bra simply paced around the room as she spoke. "I'd tried to get over him while he was gone, but when he came back, my feelings for him had only seemed to grow..."

"They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder," Vegeta added.

Bra looked a little surprised. She hadn't expected him to have input. At least not so soon.

"Yes," she said. She finally stood still and stared out the window for a while. The droplets that fell outside her window were fast and steady. A peaceful rain. No thunder. No lightning. Just rain.

"Any time I was feeling down about not being able to be with him, I would do things and not remember that what I've done. One minute I'm doing something and the next thing I know, I've...lost time," Bra explained. It was the same terminology she'd used with her mother. It was really the only term she could use to explain it.

"Lost time?" Vegeta asked.

Her mother had asked the same question. A perfectly reasonable question so she couldn't blame them. "Large amounts of time would go by and I wasn't aware of it. I'd look at a clock and a few minutes or a few hours would have passed. It even happened during that last fight with Goten."

Vegeta nodded. "And your mother believes this is cause for concern, so she's running around like the mad scientist she is." He looked at Bra out of the corner of his eye. "There is no cause for concern. It happens all the time with people who are on the edge of attaining a new form."

WHAT! Hold on! Hold it. He didn't say anything about attaining a new form the other day. Of course this was the first time she's mentioned to him that she'd been 'losing time'. Bra could feel her hands begin to tremble as she continued to stare out at the falling rain. There was no way she was capable of reaching Super Saiyan 3. It was impossible.

He'd surely seen that his daughter was thunderstruck by his statement, so Vegeta went on. "Think about it. When you were first strong enough to make the transformation into Super Saiyan, you were too young to care about time, right? There isn't that much of a change when you go from Super Saiyan to Super Saiyan 2, so it doesn't have the same effect. Then there's the transformation from level 2 to level 3. It's a pretty dramatic transformation considering the first two."

Bra was trying to take in everything he was saying, but it just wasn't making sense. Why had she never heard any of this before now? She'd always heard the legends of how the Saiyans before her became Super Saiyans. But she'd never heard of any adverse effects. There had been no mention of these Saiyans losing huge chunks of time. You would think that it was something a parent would want to tell his child, who he knew had aspirations of making these transformations. Her father had never said anything to her before now. Goku couldn't have said anything to his sons because if Gohan knew, he would have said something to Pan. And of course, Pan would have said something about it if she'd known. Had Goten known, he would have let her know something as well.

And what about presently? Someone somewhere had to be experiencing these time losses besides her. Goten was just as strong as she. He'd been stronger for a long time. Was he not experiencing some of the same problems?

She looked at her father out of the corner of her eye. "You never went level 3."

Vegeta smirked. "You've never SEEN me go level 3."

Bra gasped. All these discoveries in such a short period of time were almost overwhelming. It was all beginning to make her head spin. "Why?"

"Using it in an actual fight expends much more energy than it's worth. To have the ability to attain that level and to have trained at that level makes lower levels more effective. I am no stronger at level 2 than you are. I've simply experienced a level beyond that. It allows me capabilities that I otherwise wouldn't have had," Vegeta told her.

It was all jumbled nonsense in her head.

"Besides, I can deal with having blond hair. But not long blond hair. It looks ridiculous," Vegeta added, very seriously.

Bra tried to stifle a laugh as she envisioned her father with the long golden locks she'd only seen Goku with on one occasion.

So her father had reached a new level of Saiyan without her knowledge. She should have been angry. As angry as she was when she first found out that Goten had held back on her on so many occasions. But she wasn't. There were plenty of things that her father never talked to her about, so in a way, it was no big surprise. She wouldn't bring up the fact that he hadn't talked to her about this, even though he could feel that she was getting close to making the transformation.

"Well, maybe that's why those test results were the way they were," Bra said.

To Vegeta it must have seemed to come out of nowhere. He looked at her strangely.

"Mom's running brain wave tests on all the Saiyans. She thinks that--" Bra began.

Pan came to her opened bedroom door. "Oh, hi, Vegeta." She was surprised to see him there.

Vegeta just looked at Pan.

"Has anyone seen my dad?" Pan asked. "It's pouring outside. I didn't want to fly home in the rain."

Like Pan cared about flying in the rain.

"He left. I don't think it was raining then," Bra said. She looked at her father, then back at Pan. "I'm sure my mom'll take you home." She raised her eyebrows. It was supposed to be a signal to Pan that she should leave so that she and her father could continue their conversation.

And surprisingly, Pan noticed. "Alright. I'll see you at school tomorrow." She disappeared quickly.

Bra looked back at her father.

"You were saying something about brain wave tests," Vegeta reminded her.

She nodded. "Right. Mom's performing tests on all the Saiyans so she can see if there's a difference in the waves. You and I seem to have an extra wave in our readings. She's checking to see if the others have that same wave. Do you think being close to a new transformation could do something like that?"

Vegeta shook his head. "I'm not really familiar with that sort of test, but I only recently ascended to level 3. There's no new transformation for me. Not any time soon anyway." He frowned. "It sounds like she's making things more complicated than they should be."

"Maybe you should talk to mom about it," Bra suggested. "I'm sure that if you pool your resources, you'll come up with some sort of explanation."

Vegeta began his patented grumbling and headed out of her bedroom.

Bra's world was still a little unstable. There were so many things that she didn't understand. She wasn't even sure if her father would talk to her mother about this.

What she needed was a drink of water. She slowly walked into the kitchen as Pan emerged again, followed by Bulma.

"Bra, I'm glad I found you," Bulma said. She handed Bra a capsule. "Could you take Pan home for me? I've gotta study these EEG readings. I think I'm getting close to a discovery. I still need to run some tests on the rest of the guys to be sure." She smiled.

Her mother seemed to be enjoying this a little too much. Bra grabbed a bottle of water and looked at it. "Come on, Pan."

"Thanks, honey," Bulma told Bra. "I'll see you later, Pan."

"Alright. Thanks Mrs. B.," Pan said to Bulma. As Bra's mother rushed out of the room with all her papers in hand, Pan looked at Bra. "So, what were you and your dad talking about?"

Bra headed out the door with Pan in tow. The rain poured down on them so hard that they may as well have flown to Pan's house. "Tell me something," she said as if she had ignored the question Pan asked. "Has your dad ever mentioned losing portions of his memory when he was training to become a Super Saiyan?" She hit the button on the capsule and tossed it out in front of them.

After the little explosion occurred, they got inside the car. They were both almost soaked to the bone. Pan looked at Bra strangely. "What kind of a question is that?"

"Did your granddad ever tell you what it was like before he was able to transform into a level 3 Super Saiyan?" Bra asked.

"What are you talking about, Bra? You're not making any sense," Pan commented.

"Yes or no?" Bra questioned. She started to drive.

"No," Pan answered. She looked at Bra out of the corner of her eye. "Are you feeling okay, Bra? You're starting to worry me."

She wasn't sure how she was feeling. All she knew was that she had to get some answers. And it seemed the only way to do that was to get them straight from the horses' mouths.

--End A Little Rain Must Fall--

--That's the end of yet another episode of Versus 4. Kinda short. We're slowly but surely making progress here, but it seems there are more questions now than ever.

--Thanks for past reviews. And thanks for reading this episode. I hope you enjoyed it. And I think you'll really enjoy the episodes to come, so stay tuned.

--Oh, yeah. I meant to add my whole theory on things here. I'm not the biggest fan of GT, so I got rid of the whole Super Saiyan level 4 deal. (Here come the flames.) The limit here is level 3.


	15. One Rainy Wish

--Note: I figured I should explain something before I confuse everyone. While it may have seemed like I as saying that Vegeta and Bra were close in power, that's not true. It's always been my theory that at a given level of Super Saiyan you can only become so strong, that is, before you transform to the next level. But while you are at lower levels it is possible to get stronger. That way, when you make the transformation, you will be stronger than a person who just made the transformation at an earlier point in their training. It sounds confusing, but maybe some of you understand what I'm trying to say. And now on with the story.

Versus 4: Temporal Distortion

--One Rainy Wish--

"I just found out that when a Saiyan is strong enough to reach the next level, he starts to lose time," Bra told Pan.

"Lose time?" Pan asked.

Okay, Bra decided that she would stop using that term. At first she figured it was self-explanatory, but apparently she was the only one who understood it. "Lose time. Like one minute you'd be doing something and then the next thing you know, several hours have passed."

Pan looked at Bra strangely. "I don't follow."

Bra rolled her eyes, then looked back out at the rain-covered road. The windshield wipers tossed Heaven's tears from side to side as they drove along. "Let's say that you're riding along here. That's what you remember doing. Then let's say you're suddenly in your bedroom sitting on your bed and it's completely dark outside your window."

"That would be weird," Pan said.

"That's what I mean by losing time," Bra told her. "The thing is that you've been walking around doing stuff, only you don't know what you've done." It sounded more like the definition of sleep walking now that she thought about it. Maybe she should use that term instead. Well, except she wasn't sleeping.

Pan was silent for a moment. "That's kinda like what you said happened to you when you fought Goten the other day, right?"

She was thinking! By golly, Pan was putting that Son brain of hers to use. Not saying that the family wasn't smart in their own way. Of course, they were. Gohan was a scholar. Goten was...once a teacher. Goku was...Goku.

"Right," Bra answered. She watched some of the traffic going by on the opposite side of the road.

"Are you saying...?" Pan began.

Oh, this was one for the history books. Pan was using her brain for something besides mischief. Bra wished she kept a camcorder around so that she could have documented evidence of this moment.

"Are you saying that you're about to reach a new level of Saiyan? You're about to become a level 3 Super Saiyan?" Pan asked.

Bra shrugged. "That's what my dad said."

"Oh, come on, Bra. You know your dad knows everything there is to know about fighting and being a Saiyan," Pan commented. She smiled. "Wow. You'd be the first in our generation to go level 3. This is so exciting. I can't--"

"That's not the point," Bra interrupted. "The point is that no one told us about these...side effects. And they knew full well that we wanted to attain these levels. So why wouldn't they say something about it?"

Pan shrugged. "I have no idea, but you just passed my house."

Bra slammed on breaks and almost sent them both flying out through the windshield. She blushed in embarrassment and frustration. "Sorry." She turned around in the middle of the road and headed back to Pan's house.

"It's alright. I always look forward to being tossed around in a car like that," Pan said. She laughed a little. "Listen, I'll talk to my dad. Maybe he knows something and isn't telling me. And when I catch up with my granddad, I'll ask him some questions. You keep working on your dad. He should know more than anyone else." She suddenly shouted, "HEY!"

Bra slammed on breaks again, but this time they were both ready for it. "Don't do that," she said calmly.

"My fault. Why don't we go over and talk to Goten and Trunks? Maybe they know something. You and Goten are about at the same level, right?" Pan questioned.

"That's true. I was thinking about asking him," Bra told her. She started back driving again.

"Great. You ask Goten and I'll handle Trunks," Pan declared.

--soon--

Pan giggled as they walked up to Goten and Trunks' apartment. She signaled for Bra to do as she did. She slowly and quietly began to levitate and positioned herself upside down above their door.

For a person who didn't want to fly home in the rain, she was sure taking her sweet time out here as it poured down upon them. Bra complied, however, because it would get them inside faster. She copied what Pan was doing.

Pan knocked on the door and levitated up a little further.

After a couple of seconds, the door opened and Pan covered her mouth to keep from laughing.

"Hello? Is anybody there?" Trunks asked, stepping out a little farther past the doorway. The dunce. He looked around.

As he turned to go back inside, Pan dropped down on him like a ton of bricks, knocking him to the ground flat on his back. She laughed. "Hey."

Trunks looked at her for a while, then smiled. "Oh, hey, Pan."

It was a funny sight to behold really. Pan was just lying there on top of him and neither of them had sense enough to move. So now they were both getting soaked while Bra continued to levitate upside down outside their door, also getting soaked. She didn't have sense enough to move either.

"Hey, don't leave the door wide open like that," Goten called from inside the apartment. He stepped to the door and looked at Trunks and Pan. He raised his eyebrows.

Pan had finally stopped laughing. She jumped to her feet seeming to imitate a jack-in-the-box. "Come on. Get up. You're alright," she said to Trunks. She turned to the voice she'd just heard. "Hey, Goten."

Bra looked at her brother and saw that his face was a little flushed. She wasn't sure if it was from the fall or--

"You can come down now, Bra. The joke's over," Pan called to her. She laughed and went marching inside.

"What are you guys doing here?" Goten asked. He took Bra's hand and pulled her down out of the air.

Bra flipped back upright as she descended and smiled at Goten. "We were in the neighborhood." It was a lie, but it sounded like the right thing to say.

Goten pushed Bra's wet hair behind her ears. "You're gonna catch pneumonia 'in the neighborhood'."

His touch was like a warm cup of tea. Mm, a warm cup of tea.

They headed inside and Trunks finally decided to follow.

"You're ALL gonna catch pneumonia," Goten told them. He looked Bra over. "I've got a hair dryer."

Pan went to the kitchen and took off her shirt. She started wringing it out in the sink along with her hair. All she had on now was her bra and jeans. "So, what are you guys up to?"

As relationship shy as Pan was, she sure wasn't shy about much else. She didn't have a care in the world right now. In a way it was a good way to be. Bra wished she could be as carefree as Pan sometimes.

Trunks was watching Pan from the doorway. Goten didn't seem to notice it, but Bra did. She smiled.

"We were just playing a few video games. Nothing special really," Goten said with a smile.

"Sorry to interrupt the small talk, but do you mind if I dry out my hair with your dryer?" Bra asked. She took Goten's hand and led him to his bedroom. Closing the door, she leaned against it and smiled. "I think there's something going on there with those two," she whispered.

Goten raised his eyebrows. "You may be right." He looked her up and down.

Bra blushed a little under his gaze. "Goten, I came here to talk to you about something."

Goten looked out the window. "Maybe you'd be more comfortable in some dry clothes."

"It's not so bad," Bra told him. "I really need to talk to you about--"

"Okay, _I'd_ be more comfortable if you had on some dry clothes," Goten said.

Bra blushed a little deeper and watched as he walked over to his closet. He pulled out an old Cream t-shirt and a pair of shorts.

"I remembered that you were eyeing this shirt some years back," Goten continued with his usual smile.

She could have fainted. Where did he always get these fantastic band shirts when he wasn't really that much into music? She accepted the clothes. "Thank you."

She slowly made her way toward his bathroom, but when she turned to close the door, he was standing there. "I should probably get that dryer for you." He walked past her and started messing around under the cabinet. "Here it is." He set the hair dryer on the side of the sink.

Bra nodded.

Goten didn't move.

"I think I can handle it from here," Bra said with a laugh. She started pushing him toward the door.

"Oh, yeah. Of course," Goten muttered. He laughed a little too. "I was just making sure you have everything you need. Uh, just use that towel if you need it." He closed the bathroom door behind him.

Maybe he would have liked staying there to watch her change clothes...

After a few minutes, Bra came out of the bathroom wearing the clothes that Goten had given her. Her hair was pretty much dry. She didn't want to spend a whole lot of time on that. Her main focus was asking Goten, "Do you have spells where it seems like you've been sleepwalking?"

Okay, there had been no prep for that question. It seemed to come out of nowhere. She had a tendency of doing that from time to time.

Goten was sitting on his bed and was now giving her a strange look. "Excuse me?"

The sleepwalking terminology was no better. Bra walked over to his desk and sat in the chair. She looked at the picture of herself from Pan's big summer carwash scheme and smiled a little. Then she looked serious again and glanced back at Goten. "Have you ever lost time?"

"You mean like doing something and then not remembering what you did?" Goten asked slowly.

Bra nodded. That was exactly what she was asking! He understood. Maybe he, too, had experienced this.

Goten looked at Bra strangely. "I can't say that I have. I mean, except on occasions when I've been unconscious." He thought for a while. "No, I've never had that problem."

But...he seemed to understand perfectly what she was talking about. "Are you sure? Maybe you should think on it a little longer. When you were young, before you turned into a Super Saiyan maybe."

"That was so long ago. I mean, I was really young," Goten told her. "Why are you asking me this? Is something wrong?"

Bra sighed. "No, nothing's wrong..." She didn't want to tell him that she'd been suffering from multiple losses of time over the past few weeks. He might think that something was really wrong.

Goten looked at her for a while. "Talk to me, Bra. If there's something wrong, please tell me."

Bra looked away. "I said nothing's wrong."

"I thought we'd gotten farther than this. I thought we could talk to each other about things that were bothering us," Goten said. "I'll tell you what bothers me. Hearing you ask a question like that and then never getting an explanation of why."

Bra shook her head. "It's just something I was talking to my dad about."

"Okay. Will you talk to ME about it?" Goten asked.

She was about to say something, but she couldn't. Some force was stopping her from speaking. She knew that good relationships were based on communication and honesty. And if she wanted their relationship to work that they would have to be open and honest with each other. It wasn't really her style to be so talkative, but she planned on doing anything within her power to keep Goten around. So, once again, she put aside her pride and spilled her guts.

She took the long way around when she told him the tale, but it was basically the same thing she told her father. Goten listened carefully, never interrupting. Then she told him about what her father had told her.

"Level 3. Are you sure?" Goten asked.

Going level 3 seemed to be everyone's main concern except hers. "That's not the point, Goten," she told him.

"Right. Sorry," Goten said. "Well, I don't understand. I thought you and I were pretty much at the same level. If Vegeta says that's what happens when Saiyans are close to transforming, then he probably knows. Nothing like that's ever happened to me."

"Well, I wouldn't say that he probably knows. No one had seen a Super Saiyan in a long time when my dad was on planet Vegeta," Bra reminded him.

"Yeah, you're right. Maybe he's just speaking from personal experience," Goten said. "I think I'm pretty close to level 3 myself, but I'm not 'losing time', as you put it."

Bra folded her arms across her chest. "Well, what would you call it then?"

Goten thought for a while. "I'd call it...losing time."

"Thank you."

"The only way to find out what's what is to ask my dad," Goten said. "He's at level 3. He also went Super Saiyan later in life. He should know something."

--End One Rainy Wish

--Alright. This is the part I need a little help on. Any opinions, thoughts, suggestions, flamings, or what have you are welcome at this time. Let me know. Am I getting in over my head on this? Is the story progressing too slowly? Too quickly? Let me know something. Sure, I'm in too deep to dig my way out now, but it would be nice to know something like this.

--Okay, you are free to make any good or bad comments you chose, but try not to get on me too bad about how fast I'm getting these chapters out or how short the chapters are. Some of this stuff actually takes a little more thought than what I'm used to. And I'm also trying not to step on my own toes with some of this stuff.

--Questions are welcome. Pointing out something from now that may not make sense according to what's gone on before is definitely a good thing.

--Thank you for being a wonderful audience. I think we're finally getting somewhere now and it's kinda exciting for me, so excuse me if I ramble. I hope to have another chapter out at least by the end of this week. Thanks again for past reviews and thanks for reading this episode. See ya next time.


	16. One Track Mind

Versus 4: Temporal Distortion

--One Track Mind--

"The only way to find out what's what is to ask my dad," Goten said. "He's at level 3. He also went Super Saiyan later in life. He should know something."

Bra nodded. Getting to the bottom of this would do all of them some good. It would at least allow them to rest a little better at night. "I'm sorry if I made you worry."

"No need to be sorry. No matter what happens, I'm always gonna worry about you," Goten told her with a smile.

That really was a big part of the whole love thing. She worried about him all the time, though she knew full well that he could take care of himself. So, why did she believe it would be any different for him? They would just have to worry about each other.

When they stepped out of Goten's bedroom, Bra noticed that Trunks and Pan were nowhere to be seen. Now where could they have disappeared to that quickly? Could they possibly be in Trunks' bedroom? Heh, heh, heh.

"What's this?" Goten asked. He called Bra's attention to a note that was taped to his door:

_Hey, Lovebirds. Trunks and I went to my granddad's house to see what he had to say about this. All the answers are just a hop, skip and a jump away. See ya later. Try not to get into too much trouble before we get back, if you know what I mean. Wink, wink. Pan._

The girl was a nut job.

Goten shook his head. "What am I going to do about my niece?" he asked himself.

Bra laughed. "Hope that her parents will deal with her." She leaned against the wall next to Goten's bedroom door. "So, now what?"

"I don't know. I mean, I think we've got all the Saiyans covered. You and Pan already talked to each other. You've talked to your dad. You came to Trunks and me. Pan's gonna go talk to my dad. The only other one left is my brother," Goten said. "But he has a strange thing going on already since the whole Elder Kai incident."

"Maybe everyone's making too much of this," Bra suggested. "I mean, the things that have been happening lately could all be coincidence. The blackouts, the brainwaves. It could all just be one big coincidence. Besides, since you and I have gotten back together, I haven't had any..." She paused for a long time and looked away.

"What?" Goten asked. He put his hands on Bra's shoulders. "What is it?"

Did she just think what she thought she thought? Could she finally be piecing this all together?

"Bra, talk to me. What were you going to say?" Goten questioned.

If what she was thinking was right, then she was the one who held all the answers. That is, if the other Saiyans' brainwaves turned out the way she hoped they would turn out. And of course, if Goku gave Pan the information that she thought he would.

Hmph. Her mother wasn't the only genius around.

Goten shook Bra a little to get her attention. "Bra?"

She looked at him and smiled confidently. "Don't you worry, Goten. Once my mom does all of these analyses, we'll all understand what's going on."

He looked at her strangely. "Wha--?"

Bra continued to smile and tapped her forehead. "It's all up here. It's always been up here." She put her hands on Goten's chest. "I don't want you to worry about it, though. Everything's okay."

"You think so?" Goten asked. He looked down at her hands on his chest.

Bra nodded. "I know so."

Goten took her hands in his and smiled. "Good. Do you wanna explain it to me?"

"Not this time," Bra said. She was finally ahead of the game. She'd never felt so good, so confident. Now was a good time to test her confidence. She looked out of the living room window and saw that it had stopped raining. Perfect. If she and Goten sparred now, their powers would probably be on level ground. He always seemed confident about fighting. "I'll tell you what I DO wanna do..."

Goten seemed to turn a little red and he raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure? I mean, Trunks and Pan could come back at any moment."

"What does that matter?" Bra asked.

"I mean, are you sure you're ready?" Goten questioned.

Bra laughed a little. She knew she wasn't dressed for a sparring match, but the clothes Goten had given her would work. "Of course I'm ready. I was born ready." He may have still been intimidated from when she left him for dead the other day. That was understandable. She frowned. "Maybe I should be asking you if YOU'RE ready. Are you up for it?"

Goten had been holding her hands to his chest the whole time and Bra could feel his heart beating unusually fast. She'd never seen him so excited about fighting. And he was normally pretty excited about it. He nodded like he didn't have a brain in his head.

What was his deal? He was sure acting strangely. Bra looked at Goten out of the corner of her eye. The look on his face seemed out of place. She wasn't too sure if they were talking about the same thing. Maybe she should elaborate.

"I haven't been training like I should, but I think a good sparring match is exactly what I need," Bra said.

Goten let go of her hands and laughed an embarrassed laugh. He scratched the back of his head and looked at her wide-eyed. "Yeah. It's exactly what we both need." He backed away a little.

Bra looked away and continued to lean against the wall. "Goten?"

"Hm?" he asked.

Now that she knew that fighting wasn't the first thing on his mind that time, she knew what he had been talking about. But she would ask anyway. "What did you think I was talking about?"

"I don't know. I mean, since we were alone...," Goten began.

Bra's question to herself was: Why not? He had strong feelings for her. She had strong feelings for him. They were obviously physically attracted to each other. So why not?

She blushed a little. "We are alone." She looked up at him shyly.

Goten looked at her strangely. "If you don't want to--"

Bra levitated up to his height so she could kiss him as he was talking. She put her arms around his neck and pulled him close. This was really it. This was the chance she had been waiting for. She had him all to herself. They didn't have to worry about teachers and there was no one else around.

Goten put his hands on her hips and deepened the kiss. Pressing her gently against the wall, he kissed down her chin, down her neck, to her collarbone.

All she could do was hug him tightly. She rubbed her cheek against Goten's hair and suddenly she heard herself make a sound she'd never heard before. When she made the sound it seemed to cause everything from her nose to her throat to vibrate. This must have been the purring that Goten had been talking about. How unusual. She thought that he had just been hallucinating. She really was purring. It was almost enough to make her laugh, but she didn't want Goten to stop what he was doing.

He had pulled her shirt up a little and was now moving his hands around to her back. Before she was able to figure out what he might be doing, he had unhooked her bra and continued to kiss her neck all the while.

Bra could hear herself breathing rapidly. She ran her fingers through his hair. Every cell in her body tingled as he touched her and she noticed that her legs had wrapped around him without her knowledge.

Then came the sound of the door opening.

"I told you, my granddad never remembers anything important," Pan said to Trunks.

She had heard the voice, but she couldn't think to let Goten go.

Thankfully, Goten had enough of a mind to pull Bra's shirt back down, but not before Trunks and Pan spotted them.

"Oh, excuse us," Trunks said with a grin. "What am I saying? You two should be in the bedroom with all that."

Pan giggled and flopped down on the sofa. She was wearing one of Trunks' dress shirts and a pair of his shorts.

Bra blushed deeply and finally released Goten. She floated back down to the floor. There was nothing she could say. She had to admit, she was a little disappointed. It was yet another time when things were moving at a nice pace and it had to come to an end. The frustration.

Goten scratched the back of his head and smiled. "Yeah. Sorry about that. I wasn't thinking."

"Clearly," Pan commented.

Trunks sat on the sofa beside Pan. "Listen, don't mind us. We'll turn the TV up real loud. We won't hear a thing."

She almost couldn't believe that her brother had said that. He was actually promoting the idea of Goten and her sleeping together.

Bra frowned and adjusted the straps of her bra. "Did you guys find out anything?" she asked, ignoring their innuendos. She reached behind her back and hooked her bra back together.

After she was done with that, Goten took Bra's hand and pulled her over to the recliner. He sat down and pulled her onto his lap.

She was a little surprised by this for some reason. He had even put his arms around her waist.

"All we found out is that my granddad's brain is left of west," Pan told them. "But we already knew that."

Trunks shrugged. "The only things he could tell us were that he was in Heaven when he went level 3 and that he was on Namek when he first transformed into a Super Saiyan. He said that he doesn't really remember all the details about what happened, but he never mentioned anything about time getting away from him."

"Yeah. He said that he would have remembered something like that," Pan continued. "But how could he remember if his memory was in tact if he doesn't even remember all of the details?"

"Beats me," Goten said.

"Well, I'm glad you guys went to check it out anyway," Bra began. "But I have a theory about what might be going on with all of this. I can't tell you what it is now because it might jinx it. I have to wait and see how things turn out with those tests before I start piecing things together. In the meantime, I just want you guys to sit tight."

Pan rolled her eyes. "Sit tight. I hope you remember who you're talking to."

"And I've got news for you that's sure to keep you out of trouble," Bra told her.

Pan raised her eyebrows.

Goten and Trunks looked at Bra strangely.

"A little girl talk," Bra told them all. She smiled and kissed Goten's nose. "I still have to take Pan home and I'm sure my mom's wondering where I am." She stood.

Goten smiled at her. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

"Without a doubt," Bra said, smiling at him again.

Pan stood, sighed and put her hands on her hips. "Crazy lovebirds. See you guys later."

"Fine. We didn't want you chics hanging around anyway," Trunks said.

Bra rolled her eyes at her brother.

--End One Track Mind--

--Thanks for reading this episode. Yes, this episode took a lot longer than it should have to come out. For that I'm sorry. And it was somewhat silly to boot. But as a warning, the next one's going to be even sillier.

--As always, thank you for the reviews. You make all of this possible. To those of you out there who don't know where this is going, try not to worry. That's really about all I can say, though.

--Here's a hint: Once this one is complete it's going to be the last of Versus.


	17. Plan It Caravan

Versus 4: Temporal Distortion

--Plan It Caravan--

"What kinda news you got for me?" Pan asked as she and Bra drove on down the road.

Bra smiled. She fully intended to tell Pan what it was she wanted to tell her, but making her wait seemed so much more fitting. She kept her eyes on the road as she drove Pan toward her home.

"Oh, come on, Bra. You can't do this to me," Pan whined. "This isn't payback for walking in on you and Goten, is it? I mean, you two shouldn't have even been in the living room. If you wanted to do something freaky, you should have gone to the bedroom."

Bra blushed and hit Pan's shoulder.

Pan laughed. "Well, it's true!"

"Be quiet," Bra told her. "I'll tell you what I wanted to talk to you about, but you can't let this kind of information leak out. This is very important and very private."

"You can count on me. Have I ever told something you didn't want me to tell?" Pan asked.

Bra just looked at her.

"Well, that doesn't count because I didn't know that you didn't want me to tell that," Pan said.

Pan was referring to when she told her entire family that Bra and Goten were kissing at school. It had gotten Goten into a world of trouble with her father, which resulted in a city-wide man-hunt. And that's when Bra had come to the decision to fight her father.

"Pan, you're my best friend. The only friend I've got--" Bra began.

"What about Marron?" Pan asked. "We're both your friends."

"Yeah, but I don't see her as often as I see you," Bra continued. "Anyway, I wanted to tell you this because I believe you'd give me your honest opinion." She sighed and looked at the water that had collected on the street.

"You know I will. I rarely bite my tongue, even if it means saving my own life," Pan told her.

Bra nodded. She respected that quality in Pan... Most of the time. Sometimes, it got them all into more trouble than anything. "Here we go, then. Since Goten and I talk about marriage sometimes..., I was thinking that maybe I could beat him to the punch and ask him to marry me. Officially. Ring and everything."

Pan looked surprised. "Bra, you're 16. You're still in high school."

Bra frowned. "I don't mean that we should get married right away. I'm just saying that we could get engaged and wait a while before we get married." She stared at the road, waiting for Pan to speak.

When there was no response, Bra wasn't sure what to think. Maybe she'd really gone overboard this time. Maybe she was jumping the gun. But was it so wrong to want to show the man you love how much you loved him? Was it wrong for her to want to dedicate herself fully to this man and ask him to do the same?

They'd known each other all their lives. Goten and Bra. To say that it was too soon in their relationship would have been the same as saying that it was simply never meant to be.

"Are you serious?" Pan asked.

Bra looked at Pan out of the corner of her eye. She was sure that she didn't look like she was joking around about this. It was way too important to be a joke.

The quarter Saiyan smiled. "It'll knock his socks off! This is great! I'm so excited!" She reached over and started honking the horn. "I--CAN'T--BELIEVE--YOU'RE--ACTUALLY--GONNA--DO--THAT!" she shouted, a honk for each word.

Bra rolled her eyes and went back to watching the road. Pan was a wild child alright. "Stop that."

Pan moved back to her side of the car and looked around at the cars that were honking back at them. "What's gotten into them?" she asked like she hadn't provoked the other drivers. "So, when are we gonna go pick out a ring? I know you've got plenty of money in your bank account to get a good one," Pan stated.

Bra now had no doubt that Pan thought this was a good idea. She smiled. "I think Goten said that he and Trunks are getting their brain waves checked tomorrow, so we could sneak around behind their backs then." She pulled into Pan's driveway, and then looked at her again with a smile. "Speaking of Trunks. What's going on with you two? I saw the way he was watching you today."

Pan blushed a little. "What are you talking about?"

"You were getting undressed right in front of him," Bra reminded her. "You're wearing his favorite dress shirt."

"Oh, right," Pan said. "Trunks and I joke around with each other a lot." She got out of the car and looked back in. "Hey, when you blow Goten's mind, I wanna be there to see it. We should set something up so you can do something romantic for your proposal. We'll talk about it at school tomorrow, okay?"

Bra nodded.

Pan closed the door and waved good-bye to her.

As Bra was pulling out of the yard, she realized that Pan had gotten away with changing the subject of her relationship with Trunks. And it was so slick the way she avoided her question altogether. Maybe Bra should train on some of those kinds of techniques.

When Bra got home, she saw neither hide nor hair of her mother or her father. Chances were that if her father had talked to her mother, they'd gotten into an argument. They always had something to argue about. After something like that, it was highly likely that neither of them would be in the mood to talk. So, she decided not to bother her mother about the results of Gohan and Pan's tests.

--the next afternoon--

School had been stressful. Bra had a lot of work to do. It all started when she and Pan schemed up a way for Bra to propose to Goten:

_"The last thing you wanna do is put it in his food. That would be stupid. He would eat it. Besides, I've seen it done on a million TV shows that way," Pan told Bra._

_Bra rolled her eyes. It was their usual meeting time. It was a long time before the bell would ring and they sat in the seats of their first class of the day. "I know that. Tell me something I don't know."_

_"Well, you wanna make it romantic," Pan said. "And you wanna make it original. But everything in the world has already been done for a proposal."_

_"Maybe I should just keep it simple," Bra suggested._

_"That's no fun. Come on. You serenaded the guy. Girls don't serenade guys. That was creative and romantic. You can't let the romance die before you even get married," Pan argued._

_"Fine, Pan. But if you'll remember, the serenade was your idea," Bra told her._

_Pan smiled. "You're right. I'm really romantic." She looked at Bra. "Well, you did come up with the proposal thing. That's romantic too. You just have to do something fun with it."_

_Bra thought for a while. This would be a little harder than she thought. She was good at several things, but coming up with an original proposal idea was something she never thought she would have to do. Sure, she had plenty of time to think about it last night, but she really couldn't come up with anything. Why couldn't this be a math problem or a programming prob--?_

_"Hey, Goten loves video games," Bra said seemingly out of nowhere._

_Pan looked confused. "And?"_

_"I could write a little computer game with him and me in it, propose on that and then see what his answer would be," Bra explained. "Then I could show him the ring in real life."_

_"That's a great idea! Really cute. But doesn't it take a while to write a whole video game?" Pan asked._

_Bra frowned. "Yeah, it does. I'd have to test and debug and debug and test and everything. It would be a simple little game, but it would still take a while to get it together."_

_"You could always wait to propose. I think that game thing is a fantastic idea. It would be a shame to lose an idea like that just because you don't have enough time to do it today," Pan said._

_"I don't know. I think I could do it today," Bra stated. She thought for a while. "If I work out some code while I'm here at school, I could type it up and run it when I get home. It would be a really small, really simple game, but I think it would have the same effect."_

_Pan laughed giddily. "You're the technological genius. If you think you can do it, then go for it. I think that before he lays into the game we should all go out and do something. Mini golf or bowling or something. It could be you, Goten, me, Marron, Uubu and Trunks. Then we could all go back to Trunks and Goten's apartment for your game." She shrugged. "Not only would it be good for your proposal, but it would be a good excuse for Marron to see Uubu again."_

That had set the whole thing in motion. Bra was handwriting code for her game all day long. Through every class, she scribbled down notes on what her program would consist of and added comments about what certain blocks of code did in case she got lost. Everything was in order by the time her last class rolled around, so she got on one of the computers and typed the code. All she had to do was paste it to her game editor and make sure it worked.

She met up with Pan again after school, holding the papers in her hand.

Pan looked at the papers and raised her eyebrows. "What's that?"

Bra should have reminded Pan of how she'd talked about Goku's inability to remember things, but she decided not to bring that up. "This is the program for my video game," Bra told her.

Pan frowned. "All that? There's, like, 10 sheets of paper there."

"I made it a little more complex than I intended," Bra said. "But at least I won't have to type it up when I get home."

"I can't believe you did something like that in, like...," Pan looked at her watch, "...5 hours. And then you typed it all? You really are some kind of genius."

Bra smirked. "I'm not just blowing smoke when I say stuff like that." She laughed confidently. "Come on. Let's go get that ring."

Saying that just gave Bra a major case of butterflies.

--End Plan It Caravan--

--That's the end of this episode. Okay, so this was a Bra and Pan episode. So that's not what we all came here to see. Well, there's more fun on the way. Just keep your eyes peeled and let me know what you think.

--There was something I didn't comment on that I meant to comment on a while back. Someone asked if I got the title of one of the earlier chapters from the movie, The Crow because there was a certain quote in it. The answer is no. Loved the movie (the first one, that is), but I haven't seen it in a while. Great soundtrack too. So what about the quote? The quote, "...rapping at my chamber door", I admit was taken from Edgar Allan Poe's poem, "The Raven". I like Poe's stuff. But the title of that part, which I think was "Rain Song", could have come from a number of places. I got it from a song on Led Zeppelin's album Houses of the Holy called "Rain Song". At least I think it was. And the title the person asked about was one of the rain chapters. I'll just go through them. The chapter called "A Little Rain Must Fall", I got from a quote in a Queen song. I think the name of the song is actually, "Rain Must Fall", from the album, The Miracle. Love Queen. The chapter called "One Rainy Wish" is the title of a Jimi Hendrix song from Axis: Bold as Love, I believe. But don't get me started talking about where titles of stuff comes from. I could go on all day.

--After all of that babble I think I'll call it a day.

--I appreciate past reviews. I appreciate the fact that you read this chapter. If you skipped that long and chatty comment above, that's alright. It was only targeted for one person, really. But if you did read it and you're not that one person, then you show much more interest than most. So I thank you for that too. And I'll see you good people on the next journey into the world of Versus 4: Temporal Distortion.


	18. Second Opinion

Versus 4: Temporal Distortion

--Second Opinion--

Bra sat at the edge of her bed and looked at the engagement band she'd bought for Goten. She was nervous. Very nervous. So nervous that she almost wanted to forget about asking him to marry her officially. She pulled the ring from the little black box and sighed as she studied it. It was strange that something so small could signify something so enormous. And she wondered if this may be too big a step to take in their relationship, even though she HAD known him all her life. Pan had said it. She was only 16. She was still in high school.

But she'd never felt so sure about anything in her life. She was sure that the love between her and Goten was unconditional, everlasting. She was certain that they were meant to be.

Yet as she looked at this ring, she could understand why this may not work out the way she hoped. Goten had said to her before that he thought she should have more life experience before they got too involved with each other. For some reason, that seemed to have changed over the past couple of weeks. It was like something had changed Goten's mind about her gaining this life experience altogether. What could have done that? Did he see something different in her now than he did back when they'd first confessed their love for each other? Did he see something different within himself? It was a question she would surely have to ask him.

As for this symbol of endless love, she had not really thought this through. Once her mother got the bank statement for this month, she would wonder where $2,000 disappeared to. But that was something Bra could worry about later.

She placed the ring back into the little box and smiled to herself. She felt the tightening inside her chest. Her heart thumped like a boxer working on his punching bag. Her palms were a little sweaty. She'd never felt this way before. Not like this. And that is how she knew that she was doing the right thing.

Bra had already tested her game program on her computer. It worked just fine. She really was a genius. She'd never really needed any proof of it. She saw how intelligent she was every day. But if she did need one more bit of confirmation, this was it. She'd developed an entire game in less than 6 hours.

She burned it onto a DVD and put it on her bed. And she placed the tiny black box next to it. Organization was the key. She had to get everything organized in her mind. What was on her to-do list for today:

1) Write the game program. Done!

2) Go with Pan to pick out a ring. Done!

3) Make sure Goten and Trunks were still doing their brain wave tests. Done!

4) Copy and test the game to make sure it works. Done!

5) Burn the game to a DVD. Done!

6) Take a shower and get dressed.

7) Once the guys are done, ask them out.

8) Get in touch with Pan and Marron.

9) Go out.

10) Go back to Trunks and Goten's apartment for "the big surprise".

Bra sighed. She still had a long way to go before she could get this off her chest. Her best bet was to take it easy until it was time for "the big surprise".

--soon--

Bra headed to the kitchen wearing a pair of hip-huggers and a thin sweater. She put her hair up in a pony tail, which was a good sign that it was growing back pretty quickly. No need for formal dress. They were just hanging out.

She entered the kitchen and Goten was sitting there eating a few sandwiches. He was wearing a dress shirt and a pair of slacks. What was he so dressed up for?

"Looking good," she told him.

He looked up at Bra and with a mouth full of food, smiled.

Bra took another look at him and tried not to laugh, but it came out anyway.

Goten swallowed. "What's so funny?"

Bra walked over to him and wiped a big glop of mayonnaise off of his forehead. "You really need to learn how to feed yourself," she giggled.

Goten frowned. He looked at the mayo on her hand and without warning quickly put the finger in his mouth.

Bra looked at him strangely and blushed. Goten's behavior was so very peculiar lately. She wasn't really sure what to make of it.

"I have some good news," Goten stated after he pulled her finger from his mouth. He studied her hand for a while. "I got a job."

"Really? Wow, that was really fast," Bra said. So, that's why he was so dressed up. "Where are you working?"

"The local paper. Your mom put in a word for me and they called me first thing this morning," Goten told her with a smile. "I start tomorrow morning."

Her mother had sure been doing her share of 'putting in words' for people lately. First finding that talent scout for Eroder and now this. "Goten, that's great. I'm so happy for you." Bra smiled and threw her arms around him. This was a good excuse for her to want to take him someplace. "We should celebrate. All of us. It would be like old times. Marron, Uubu, Trunks, Pan, you and I could go out tonight."

"On a Tuesday...? Okay. Sounds great. Count me in," Goten said. "Uubu's back in town?" He put his arms around Bra's waist and sat her on his lap.

Bra nodded and put her arms around Goten's neck. "That's what Pan said anyway. That girl seems to know everything."

"Yeah. Everything except the right thing," Goten added with a laugh.

Bra laughed a little as well. "Good old Pan. I--"

The back door opened and none other than Vegeta walked in. He looked at the fact that his daughter was sitting on Goten's lap and he narrowed his eyes at him.

Goten smiled. "Hey, Vegeta. Long time no see."

Bra could see the quiet fury in her father's eyes. The man just couldn't get over the fact that she was dating the son of his rival. But it only made sense. Her father had always wanted her to be with someone strong. It made her wonder if it even had anything to do with the fact that this was a member of the Son family. He didn't really have this problem with her friendship with Pan. Her father had always had trouble with the idea of her being with the opposite sex, no matter who he was. Actually, she didn't really date anyone besides the one guy she took to Marron's fashion show (which couldn't really be considered a date at all) and Goten.

"Hi, Papa," Bra greeted with a smile.

Vegeta folded his arms across his chest.

She could tell that he had hoped his presence would at least cause them to change positions, but neither she nor Goten moved. They both simply smiled at him.

"Where's your mother?" Vegeta asked Bra.

Bra shrugged. "In her lab most likely. I haven't seen very much of her these last few days."

"Yeah, she's in the lab. She put Trunks under a while ago," Goten told Vegeta.

"I didn't ask you, boy," Vegeta said. It was his usual intimidating tone.

Bra frowned.

"Oh, someone's cranky," Goten observed.

She loved the way Goten was with her father. It was like he saw past her dad's hardened exterior sometimes. Or he just ignored it altogether. Goten stood up for himself when it came to her father. That was something that only a few people would do. She did it sometimes herself. Her mother was somehow a pro at it. Goku did it a lot. And surprisingly every encounter her father had with ChiChi, she'd stood up to him as well. Not even Trunks would stand up to their dad the way Goten did at times.

Vegeta only shook his head and walked away.

"Nobody shuts my dad up except my mom," Bra said to Goten after her father left. "And you."

Goten sighed. "I thought your dad might be warming up to me, but I guess he isn't."

"Don't worry about him. It just takes him a little while to come around," Bra said. "Did my mom happen to say anything about your brain waves?"

Goten shook his head. "All she said was that she would take a look at them later." He stood Bra up. "I'd better go get ready for tonight."

Before he could make his way to the door, Bra pulled him close and pecked him on the lips. "I'll convince Trunks to do the driving. I'll see you around 8."

"You know it," Goten said. He took one of her hands and just held it for a while. Then he left.

Bra sighed. Everything was going according to plan so far. Now all she had to do was get in contact with the girls...

--three way--

Bra was really just sitting there listening to Pan and Marron argue over the phone.

"For the last time, I am NOT going out with Uubu. I'm seeing Wes now. He just called me from Vegas, telling me how much he missed me. And I told him how much I miss him," Marron said. "I refuse."

"Come on, Marron. You wouldn't have to go as a couple. You could just go as friends," Pan suggested.

"Goten and Bra aren't just going as friends," Marron said.

"But Trunks and I are," Pan argued.

"If I go out with Uubu as a friend, it'll be depressing. I mean, he doesn't even know that we're not together anymore," Marron said.

Pan sighed. "Well, don't you at least owe him a decent breakup? You've been dating all your lives. You could at least break it off with him the right way. Especially if he thinks things are still okay between you two."

"I have to agree with Pan on that one," Bra finally added.

Marron gasped. "What is this? Some kind of ambush? I don't want to go out with him just to tell him that I'm seeing someone else."

"Marron, this is a very important night. If you two aren't there, things just wouldn't be the same," Pan told her.

"Look, I'll tell Uubu that we're finished, but I am not going out with him. And that's final," Marron said.

There was a short silence.

"What's so important about tonight anyway?" Marron asked.

"Well, I can't really say. It's a surprise," Pan told her. "If you were to come along, you'd find out."

Bra knew that it took a lot for Pan to keep that secret to herself. Especially from Marron. So she decided to do the next best thing. Besides, she could use a second opinion on the subject. "I'm proposing to Goten."

Silence again.

"Excuse me. I think I heard something, but I want to make sure that was what I heard," Marron said. "Could you say that one more time, please?"

"I'm proposing to Goten," Bra repeated.

"What do you think, Marron?" Pan asked.

Yet another silence.

"Bra, you're 16. You're still in high school," Marron said.

"Why does everybody keep saying that?" Bra questioned. "I know how old I am. I know I'm in high school. But I also know that I'm ready to make this kind of commitment."

"I don't doubt your feelings for Goten. I really don't. But getting married is a big step--" Marron began.

"They're not having the wedding anytime soon. Come on, Marron. Isn't it romantic? A young woman asking the love of her life to marry him," Pan sang.

"You haven't been taking advice from the girl who thinks a surprise fireworks display at a fashion show is a good way to have fun, are you?" Marron asked.

"HEY!" Pan protested.

Bra could feel a headache developing right at the front of her head. It was like Marron was calling her stupid or something. "Alright, Marron, listen up. You might not understand where I'm coming from with this, but I know what I want in life. A lot of people spend their whole lives trying to figure out what they want. They go out looking far and wide, but they can never seem to realize what it is in life that makes them happy. Well, what I want in life is right here in my face. What makes me happy has been here the whole time."

"Okay. I hear you saying all of this, but I couldn't help noticing that none of the comments you made had anything to do with what Goten wants," Marron said. "And that's half the problem in relationships these days. What do you think Goten would think about this?"

Bra took a deep breath. "Goten loves me and I love him."

"I don't doubt that you two are very much in love. Crazy in love. But you're not understanding what I'm trying to say," Marron said. "You're seeing this proposal from your side. Put yourself in Goten's shoes. What would you think if your 16-year-old girlfriend asked you to marry her?"

"He--" Bra started.

"You don't have to tell me. I just want you to think about it," Marron told her. "Relationships are more than just love."

Bra was about to say something when Pan jumped in. "You know what I think? I think that everything you just said has absolutely nothing to do with Bra and her relationship with Goten. This is about you and your relationship with Uubu. You're just applying it to her situation."

Bra looked at the phone, a little surprised. What Pan had just said made so much sense, Bra was surprised that she hadn't seen it like that herself.

"You want Uubu to understand how you're feeling in your relationship with him, which is why you started dating someone else in the first place," Pan went on.

Marron was quiet.

Bra was impressed. So Pan wasn't some 'relationship know-nothing'. Not even Bra had thought about the conversation from that point of view. Bra may have been a genius of a lot of things, but Pan seemed to be the genius of practicality.

"Now, I'll tell you what you both need to do," Pan continued. "Bra, the show must go on. Marron, you need to talk to Uubu. I mean, you need to sit down and have a nice long conversation with him. And I suggest you do it soon, because Wes'll be back from Vegas before you know it. You're gonna want everything to be in the clear when he gets back."

"Pan, when did you grow up?" Marron asked.

Pan laughed. "I didn't. And that's where I have the advantage." She laughed even louder.

"Oh, be quiet, Pan," Bra told her. "Alright, so it's just gonna be a double date tonight."

"Right," Pan said.

"Bra, I'm sorry I won't be there when you ask Goten to marry you. I'm sure he'll be thrilled," Marron told her.

"And now that that's settled, I'm gonna get ready for my night out and I demand that we have fun," Pan told them.

--End Second Opinion--

-- In case some of you have the kind of memory I have, this is in reference to when Bra was training back in Versus and burned off a lot of her hair. It happened pretty early in the series. Even though her hair isn't talked about much, it's still somewhat short, but as you can see, it is growing back.

--Yes, there's another wait before the big episode. I hate to do it to you. I was gonna add it to this episode, but then it would have been longer than I would have liked. But the next one is definitely gonna be the episode to catch. So stay tuned.

--Thank you all for the reviews, past and present. I can't believe I'm getting so many reviews these days. Must be the subject matter. Alright, I've heard some opinions about the whole proposal thing. What do the rest of you think? Ladies, is Bra crazy to want to propose to this guy? Gentlemen, what would you say or do if your girlfriend proposed to you? Let me know.


	19. You Got a Killer Scene There, Man

--Note: Alright. This is the episode we've all been waiting for. I know I've been waiting for it. I know what some of you may be thinking. This whole marriage idea seemed to come out of nowhere. Well, I've actually known that she was going to do this since chapter 13, "Rain Song". When she and Goten were talking on the phone and she went into this little daze about halfway through the chapter. If you want to check it out again, you'll notice that it's there. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter. And I'll see you on the other side.

--Okay, so the title's a little strange. Don't blame me. Blame Queens of the Stone Age.

Versus 4: Temporal Distortion

--You Got a Killer Scene There, Man--

Trunks drove as the two couples set a course for the bowling alley.

"Yeah, Marron and Uubu couldn't make it. They had something else to take care of," Pan told the guys.

"That's a real shame. I was looking forward to it being the six of us. Like old times, you know," Goten commented. "But I guess you can't have 'em all. Am I right?" He was sitting in the back seat with his arm around Bra. The two were both behind Pan's seat.

Bra nodded. "When you're right, you're right."

"Hey, Trunks. What's your deal? You haven't said anything all night," Pan said from the passenger seat.

"Sorry. I guess I'm still kinda groggy from the shot Mom gave me," Trunks told her.

Pan nodded. "Yeah, I can understand that. This whole thing about brain waves and stuff. I don't understand it at all. What exactly is it supposed to accomplish?"

"Well, I had the same question. My mom was talking to me about it today while Goten was under. I don't know if Bra's been telling you what's been going on with her or whatever, but--" Trunks began.

As Pan and Trunks chattered, Goten put his nose on Bra's neck and she giggled quietly.

"You know, you were right the other day," Goten whispered to Bra. "We should really get back to sparring. I haven't been training the way I should."

Bra nodded. "Neither have I. Maybe we've just had too much on our minds lately," she whispered back to him. She looked at him. "Oh, I've been meaning to ask you something. It's been on my mind a lot."

Goten raised his eyebrows.

"When we first got together, you said that you wanted to wait for us to start a relationship," Bra began. "You said that I should wait until I experienced college before becoming a couple. What changed that?"

Goten looked at her strangely.

"I mean, I'm not saying that changing your mind was a bad thing. I'm just asking why the sudden change," Bra clarified.

"It's hard to explain," Goten told her. "The reason I suggested it in the first place is because I wanted things to be perfect between us. I wanted you to be with me, not because I've always been the only one in your life, but because even out of all the other men you've come into contact with, you still wanted to be with me. In a way I guess it was selfish, but in a way it was really risky because I could have lost you to someone else." He put his free hand to her cheek. "I started seeing you all the time. And we became so close, even when we weren't a couple. But after you left me that time we sparred, I was so confused. For a while there, I wanted to call it quits altogether." He looked away.

Bra put her head down. She knew that he thought about that incident from time to time, just like she did. She'd never regretted anything so much. It was something that would haunt her for the rest of her life and quite possibly even in death.

"But being near death made me realize something. It made me realize that life isn't a game. If you have something you want, you should hold on to it," he went on. He gazed deeply into her eyes, even in the dark. "And then when you sang that song, my whole life with you flashed before my eyes. I thought back to when we were growing up and how you looked up to me as a fighter. And I thought about all those times I defended you from your brother. When I taught you how to fly. Things like that. When we were younger, I really did see you as a little sister. You meant the world to me. But even before I left for college, I saw how much you were growing up. You'd always been much more sophisticated than other kids your age. And you've been one of the smartest people I know for as long as I can remember. I really admired those things about you. Then I came back from college and I saw that you'd become a woman. You weren't that little girl I grew up with. You weren't that little girl I babysat. You were a brilliant, strong and gorgeous young woman. A woman I knew all my life." He smiled that smile of his. "On the night you sang that song, everything became so clear. Whether it was my doing or your own, I wouldn't be able to deal with losing you."

Bra blushed, but she was sure he couldn't see it in the dark. "Oh, Goten. You never would have lost me. Not even if you gave me away. I've been in love with you all my life. And I'll always love you. NOTHING could ever change that. NO ONE could ever change that." She was about to go on, but instead she pulled him close, kissing him deeply.

"Hey, lovebirds, we're here," Pan said. She had turned all the way around in her seat. "You can save making out for later. We're here to bowl." She giggled.

Trunks laughed a little as well.

They all got out of the car and saw that the place was pretty much deserted. What else had they expected when going out on a Tuesday night?

Goten had his arm around Bra's shoulders as they headed for the entrance.

And Bra noticed that Pan was pulling Trunks along by his hand.

"Come on, come on, sleepy-head," Pan told him. "We can get the farthest lane. That way if we break something, we won't call too much attention to ourselves."

Bra was still a little flustered by the things Goten had said to her in the car. Her mind was reeling. Considering everything he'd just said, there was no reason for him to say no this proposal. She thought about the purse she'd left in the car. The only things she had in it were the game DVD she'd made and the infamous little black box.

"I hope you don't have anything strange in mind for this little outing," Trunks said. "I know how you like to do things."

Pan giggled and looked back at Bra. "I don't have anything planned." She looked back at Trunks and frowned. "What? You don't trust me?"

"No, not really," Trunks said with a laugh. He escaped Pan's grasp and jogged toward the entrance.

Pan gasped. "I do not believe this." She started chasing him. "You can't run forever, you know!"

Goten laughed at the two. "I think we're gonna have to play the role of the parents," he said to Bra.

Bra shook her head. "Can't take these kids anywhere, can we?"

--the date: part 2--

Considering their strengths, it was amazing that nothing was destroyed. Unfortunately, the person who'd suggested that they go bowling was terrible at it. Poor Pan's ball hit the gutter more times than any of them could count. She was dubbed 'master of the gutter'. Bra, on the other hand, would roll the ball right up the middle, but it was moving so fast that none of the other pens were touched besides the few that were stationed there. It sounds impossible considering the physics of the game, but she somehow managed to make it happen that way each and every time she rolled. All night she was called 'master of the middle'. Goten did alright. He was the 'master of spares'. He'd knock down pens in weird places, then every time he had to pick up spares, he did. Every time. All of them. He was surprisingly talented. Trunks, however, stole the show. He was called 'master of strikes' all night long. That one was a self-explanatory title.

And what better to do after a night filled with laughing at Pan and Bra than picking up something to eat on their way back to the apartment? They were polite about it, only ordering 20 pizzas. Trunks insisted that he pay.

On to the apartment, laughing and chatting all the way.

"I swear if you guys weren't holding the food, I wouldn't let you in," Pan said to Trunks and Goten. She laughed as she unlocked the apartment door with Trunks' keys.

The guys were holding 10 boxes of pizza a piece. Bra was simply holding that purse she hadn't removed from the car since they set out that night.

After letting the guys walk past her, Pan gave Bra a smile. "Are you ready?"

Bra's heart raced as she hugged the purse she carried. "I don't know if I can do this..."

Pan's smile faded. "What do you mean? You're the only person I know who COULD do this," she whispered to Bra. "You worked so hard to get him back. And you worked so hard to find a creative way to do it. You can't back out now."

Bra looked away.

"Come on. You're just nervous," Pan said. "Everything's gonna be fine. You'll see. And when he says yes, you'll be ecstatic." She smiled once again.

She'd never been so nervous in her life. She tried to keep her usual confidence, but something in the back of her mind kept singing to her. It reminded her that she was only 16. That she was still in high school. And it warned her that if she did this, nothing but heartbreak would lie ahead.

Then there was a small part of her, which was almost being drowned out by the singings of the prior, telling her that she had a very slim chance of being rejected. He loved her. They had already been talking about getting married. It was only logical for them to make it official.

Bra nodded to Pan. "Alright. I'm ready. I'm gonna do this."

"That's the spirit!" Pan said. She pushed Bra into the apartment.

Trunks was setting up the DVD player and Goten was sorting out the pizzas. Actually, Goten was eating a couple of slices while he thought no one was looking.

But Bra saw him. She walked over to Goten and stood behind him for a while. "Hungry?"

Goten gasped and almost choked. "I wasn't doing anything," he lied, trying to hide the pizza in his hand.

Bra laughed and wiped some tomato sauce off of his nose. "Then what's this?" She showed him the sauce on her fingers.

Goten looked at her hand, then licked the sauce off. "What's what?" He smiled like he was actually innocent of the accusation.

Bra could only look at him. He had been acting differently. He'd been more and more physical with her these days than he had before. Was this somehow connected to what he was talking about during their drive to the bowling alley? She had a feeling it was. She sure wasn't going to complain. Of course, she had been more physical with him these days as well. So, in a way, maybe they had both come to the same realization. If you have something in this life, you should most definitely hold onto it. In the most literal of senses.

By the time she came out of her stupor, Goten had moved all the pizzas to the coffee table in the living room.

"What are we watching?" Pan asked as she took a seat on the sofa next to Trunks. She grabbed one of the pizza boxes and started eating.

Trunks held the remote in hand. "Something I got a couple of weeks ago and never watched. It's called 'High Tension'."

"Never heard of it," Pan said.

"Neither have I," Bra told them.

She noticed that Goten was sitting in the recliner. She was about to walk past him and sit on the sofa with Trunks and Pan, but Goten grabbed her by the hand and pulled her onto his lap. She looked at him strangely.

"Where do you think you're going?" Goten asked with a grin.

Pan looked over at them and smiled.

Trunks was oblivious. Or so it seemed. He started the movie...

--the date: part 3--

Bra spent the whole movie leaning back against Goten. He just sat there with his arms around her. It was a little strange. She was sure that she was cutting off the circulation to his legs by the time the movie was half over, but he didn't move.

She thought the movie was great. Not only was the story fantastic, but the soundtrack was awesome. Yes, it was a French movie, but that didn't matter. It was good. A suspense thriller for the ages.

But she'd noticed something funny while the movie was playing. They probably didn't notice that she noticed, but Trunks and Pan had gotten pretty close. Pan, who normally didn't scare easily, had hidden her face in Trunks' arm several times during the movie. Bra wanted to call them out on it, but she decided not to. Especially since she could be called out on something she'd rather not be called out on.

"Oh, yeah. Didn't I hear you say something about a game you wanted me to check out?" Goten asked.

Bra had mentioned the game she'd developed while they were bowling. She was a little surprised that he remembered that she'd brought it up. Her heart thumped rapidly. Her stomach felt like it had giant butterflies flapping around in it. Her eyes even felt like they might leak at any given moment. "That's right." She stood and headed toward the computer in the corner of the living room.

Pan looked like she wanted to stand, but she stayed put. "You guys and your video games," she said nonchalantly. Or at least that's how she sounded when she said it.

Goten followed Bra over to the computer and sat down.

Trunks raised his eyebrows. "A new game? Maybe I should check this out. Come on, Pan. Seems like you'd like video games." He stood and pulled Pan over to the computer as well.

Bra was more nervous now than she was before. She put the game DVD in and ran the program.

"Hey, that's you," Goten pointed out to Bra. "And that's me."

"What kind of game is this?" Trunks asked.

"Bra told me that she'd put a game together, but she didn't tell me that it would star us," Goten said as he played through it. He smiled. "This is cool."

Pan and Bra exchanged a look.

After about 30 minutes of game play, Goten had made it to the end. "It was short, but it was really cool. I had no idea you could do things like this, Bra. You're really talented."

Bra couldn't even say anything. She simply blushed and kept watching the monitor.

"Hey, there's more," Pan said.

All of them stared at the computer screen as the ending cinema played:

_"We've been through so much together," the game version of Goten said._

_The game version of Bra nodded. "With everything that's been happening, it's a miracle that we're still together. And I know that as long as we're together, there's nothing we can't face. There's no force in the universe that could ever come between us. Neither space nor death nor time will ever tear us apart." Game Bra hugged Game Goten tightly._

_"I love you, Bra," Game Goten told her with a smile._

_Game Bra smiled. "I love you too, Goten. There aren't enough words in the world that could describe how much I love you." She slowly dropped to one knee and pulled a little box from her pocket. "That's why I want to ask you this. Will you marry me...?"_

The game ended abruptly.

"Wow. Why did it end like that? What was his answer?" Goten asked, still staring at the screen.

When he looked over at Bra, she was on her knees beside him, holding the tiny black box in her hands. Tears were in her eyes. She placed the box on his thigh and just held onto it. She couldn't even get the words out. She wouldn't look to see what Pan and Trunks' reactions were. She just held the box there.

She finally looked up at Goten after she didn't hear an immediate answer. And to her surprise, his eyes were quickly filling with tears as well. "Bra..."

Bra took a deep breath, but still wasn't able to speak. There were so many things she wanted to say, but not only were her vocal chords not working, her brain had all but quit functioning.

Once again, nothing else mattered. They may as well have been there all by themselves. The silence surrounding them seemed to go on for an eternity. Her heart raced and her hands were beginning to tremble. She took another deep breath, hoping to steady herself enough to speak. "Goten...you mean more to me than even the beating of my heart." She opened the little box. "Will you marry me?" She gazed into his dark eyes, seeking his answer.

"Bra...," seemed to be the only thing Goten could say.

"I already know what you're going to say. I'm not talking about getting married tomorrow or even a year from--" Bra began.

Goten's teary eyes looked confused. "Why not?"

It was Bra's turn to look confused. "Huh?"

Goten stood and dropped to his knees in front of her. "Why not get married some time next year or something? We both know what's what. It would be silly to hold off on a wedding when you already know that you're gonna get married anyway."

This was shocking to hear. Bra was speechless.

"We don't have to set a date today," Goten told her. He laughed a little. "In other words, I'm saying yes. Yes, I'll marry you."

Bra looked at the ring she'd spent so much time picking out, then looked back at Goten. She was so flabbergasted that she wasn't sure what to do anymore. She hadn't expected THIS reaction.

--End You Got a Killer Scene There, Man--

--Well..., that didn't go the way I thought it would. Ummmmmm... It was a surprise to me. I don't know what to say.

--And since I don't know what to say, let me hear what you have to say. Please review.

--I'm honestly thrown off here. I...

--Thanks for past reviews and thanks for reading this chapter. What does Pan think? And what about Trunks? How will their mothers take the news? How will Vegeta feel about it? We'll just have to find out in the episodes to come.


	20. Stand

Versus 4: Temporal Distortion

--Stand--

The whole occurrence had been like a dream. Goten had accepted her marriage proposal and all should have been right with the world. The only reason she knew that it had not been a dream was because she was there with him now, both still on their knees, and she was holding the tiny black box, which was open.

Suddenly Bra was aware of Pan and Trunks' presence again.

"This is beautiful," Pan said with a smile.

Trunks was speechless. Bra could tell by the look on his face that this was something he hadn't expected, maybe even something with which he did not agree.

But she didn't care. It was her decision no matter what anyone else thought. Bra took the ring from its little cradle and looked at it for a while. The ring was very simple really. It was just a big gold band with an engraving on the inside. The engraving was the word: Forever.

She looked at Goten's hand and sighed. There was nothing hindering her now. He had already said yes. So she took his hand and placed the ring on the proper finger. Then she looked up at him.

Goten smiled and hugged her, but as soon as he took a good look at the ring, he let her go. The smile disappeared from his face. "Bra, this ring..."

Bra only looked at him.

Goten looked up at her. "I...can't take this."

"What?" Pan nearly shouted.

Bra looked confused. "You don't like it?" she asked Goten

"No. I mean, I love it. It's just... I-it's much too expensive. You didn't have to get something so...," Goten stammered a bit.

"Don't worry about it, Goten," Bra said. "I got it because I thought you would like it. And you do."

"I don't know about this, Bra. I love you and I want to marry you, but this is...too much," Goten said.

Bra frowned and hugged herself.

Just as Goten was about to take the ring off of his finger, Trunks stopped him. "Goten, she wants you to have it. You should keep it."

Bra looked at her brother, a little surprised. Considering the look on his face earlier, she could have sworn that he thought this whole marriage thing was a mistake on her part. She wasn't sure what to say or think now.

Goten also looked a little surprised. "But it had to cost a grand at least."

Bra wouldn't dare correct him by telling him it was actually a two thousand dollar ring. And when she saw that Pan was about to let him in on this bit of information, she looked at the quarter Saiyan and shook her head.

"What does that matter? It's just a ring. Did you forget who this is? She's a member of one of the richest families in the world," Trunks said. He walked over to Bra and Goten and put a hand on each of their shoulders.

Pan walked over to Trunks and hugged one of his arms. "You're always giving Bra a hard time, but you're just as bad as your dad when it comes to her, aren't you?"

Trunks looked at Pan. "Don't read too much into this." He looked at his sister and his soon-to-be brother-in-law. "Getting engaged is okay, but I don't like the idea of you two getting married before Bra even gets out of high school. I think that's a bad move. But I know how hard-headed you two can be. It's not like you'll listen to me anyway."

"Oh, come on, Trunks. Look at them. They're so silly for each other, it's almost deafening," Pan told Trunks.

Trunks looked at Pan strangely.

Now that statement just didn't make sense.

"Huh? What sense did that make?" Goten asked Pan. He finally stood and helped Bra to her feet.

He took the words right out of Bra's mouth.

"I don't know. Sometimes I just say things," Pan admitted, leaning against Trunks as she held onto his arm.

Bra rolled her eyes. "That's true." Then she raised her eyes at the sight of Pan's closeness to Trunks.

Pan pouted.

Trunks sighed. "Listen, I had a really good time tonight, but don't you two have school in the morning? It's getting late."

"Awwwww. I'm too excited to sleep," Pan whined.

"We all have someplace to be tomorrow," Bra reminded Pan. "Trunks always has to go to work early and Goten's starting up a new job in the morning. These guys need their rest."

"Yeah, I heard about that new job thing. That's great news too," Pan said. She smiled. "My mom and dad are gonna freak. It's way past my curfew."

How did Pan keep getting the information she always seemed to have? First, the fact that Uubu was back in town, and now the fact that Goten had another job. Bra was starting to believe that she was a little behind on the news scene. She looked at the clock, which read 12:13 A.M. She knew that her own weeknight curfew was 10:30. Hopefully, her mother and father were in bed by now.

"Hey, Trunks. Why don't you take Pan home? I'll just fly with Bra back to her place," Goten told his roommate. "It'll save some time."

"Alright," Trunks said.

"I'll see you guys later," Pan sang to Goten and Bra. Trunks lead Pan to the apartment door and opened it for her, but she just kept a hold of his arm and pulled him outside.

Once Trunks closed the door, Bra laughed. "Oh, I'm gonna get her about all of that tomorrow. Did you see those two?"

Goten put his arms around Bra from behind. "I saw them, but that's not what I wanna talk about right now." He planted kisses on the back of her neck.

She thought she felt her spine melt as he kissed her. "Let me guess. You want to talk about us." She leaned her head back and he simply trailed his kisses to the side of her neck.

"Yeah. I'm really happy that you proposed to me. It shows that you're just as serious about us as I am," Goten told her. One of his hands slowly made its way down to her stomach and he just ran his hand across it over and over again. He wouldn't stop kissing the side of her neck.

Bra giggled. "That tickles." She turned to him and grabbed his hands. It didn't tickle. What it WAS doing, she would rather not mention to him. But surely he knew, or he wouldn't have been doing it. "Was there ever any doubt? I'm serious about everything, you know."

Goten kissed each of her hands. "That you are."

"I just wanted you to know just how much I love you. And I know I haven't really shown you that in the past," Bra said. She was about to go into the whole thing with her inability to tell him that she loved him and the whole 'trying to kill him' episode, but she decided against it. She was sure he understood what she was talking about.

"Well, you really take things to the extreme when you want to make a point," Goten pointed out.

"I didn't do this just to make a point, though," Bra corrected. "I want us to get married." She looked away. "But I have to agree with Trunks. It may not be a good idea to rush it."

Goten expression flickered to disappointment. He looked at the ring on his finger, then back at Bra. "I can't think of a single reason for us to wait."

Bra was about to say something, but he interrupted her by gently touching her lips.

"So, you're in high school. You'll graduate whether we're married or not," Goten told her.

Bra nodded.

"And you'll go to college whether we're married or not," Goten went on.

Bra nodded again.

Goten smiled again and ran his fingers across her lips. "And I have one last argument for you, if you still want to suggest putting it off."

She raised her eyebrows. What was he going to say next? What was his last argument?

"I know the way you work. You like to do things that other people wouldn't. And this is definitely one of those things other people wouldn't do," Goten said. "Not only that, but you're also a delinquent. I've seen you do things just because you're not supposed to. I think you get some of that from Pan. She's a bad influence."

Bra smirked, but wouldn't say anything. He had a point. She was a bit of a delinquent, as he'd told her a couple of times. And even though she wanted to correct him on saying that Pan was a bad influence, she just stood there and let Goten study her lips. He'd seemed so fascinated by them that she didn't want to interrupt. It made her a little nervous for him to examine her so, however.

"I want us to set a date," Goten said. He moved his fingers to explore her face as if he were blind and trying to familiarize himself with who she was. "And I think that date should be soon." He finally did what she was sure he was working his way around to anyway. He kissed her on the lips, but only briefly.

Bra sighed and nodded. She sure wasn't using her voice much right about now.

Goten smiled. "Come on. I should take you home. I think you're just about tuckered out."

Was she? Was she simply tired and didn't know it? She put her arms around him as he led them to the door.

--End Stand--

--That's the end of a strange chapter. I'm sorry it took so long to get done. I had some bad days last week and I wrote some short but weird side stories to get a little anger off my chest. And now I'm back. I was still a little angry when I wrote this, so it didn't turn out the way I would have liked. Let's just hope for the best for future episodes.

--Ah, the reviews. I thank you all for everything you do for me and for this story. I don't know what I'm going to do without this audience once this one is done. I'll really miss you all. It's kinda sad that once this story is done, I'll probably never bump into any of you again. You've been so helpful. Sigh

--Alright, stay tuned for the episodes to come. Though the most exciting part of the series is pretty much over, there are still some interesting things to find out. Let's just see what happens next.


	21. Articulate Announcements

--Oh, yes. I hope that your question has been answered about who the ring was for. You know who you are. I'm sorry I hadn't really elaborated on it earlier. I sometimes overlook things when I just start flowing along. Especially when I already know in my head what's going on. I'm sure you know now that all the proposing is done. Again, I apologize for not answering that question sooner. It was brought up so long ago that it probably doesn't even matter that I'm acknowledging it now. I should have been there sooner for that one.

--Also, I do know about promise rings. I meant to comment on that earlier as well. But to tell the truth, this Bra just seems like the kind of person who would take things a step farther than other people would. As a matter of fact, I don't know if I brought it up, but what she actually got for him was an official wedding band. Something big and extravagant, yet still simple. And now, on with the show.

Versus 4: Temporal Distortion

--Articulate Announcements--

Bra awoke with a start, sure that she was running late. The clock seemed to read 8:27 when she opened her eyes. So she rushed through the shower, wondering why her mother hadn't gotten her up for school if she knew she was this late. Of course, her mother may have been in her lab by this time.

When she got out of the shower and got dressed, she was sure that the clock read 8:38. It was the shortest time she'd ever spent getting ready for school. She rushed to the kitchen to grab a bottle of water before heading out and saw that her mother was sitting at the table.

"Mom! I can't believe you didn't wake me up for school," Bra said hurriedly. She was about to run back out of the kitchen when her mother stopped her.

"Bra, honey. Why are you going to school so early?" Bulma asked.

"Early?" Bra stopped in her tracks.

"It's 6:36, sweetheart," Bulma told her.

She frowned and looked at the clock in the kitchen. Wow. Sixes were really looking like eights this morning. "Awww. I could have gotten at least another hour of sleep in," Bra muttered, looking at the ceiling. Well, now was as good a time as any to tell her mother the good news. She wouldn't tell her that they planned on getting married before she even graduated from high school, but she would tell her that she had proposed to Goten.

Bulma looked at Bra for a while, and then smiled. "Are those hickeys?"

Bra lowered her head. She'd forgotten that Goten had been assaulting her neck last night, not only when they were at the apartment, but also once they'd gotten to Bra's bedroom window.

"Those are hickeys. Oh, Bra, you're growing up right before my eyes," Bulma said. "Now, you are being careful, right? You don't need any Goten Jr.s running around before you finish school."

Bra blushed deeply. "MOM!" She sat at the table and covered her face. "I really don't want to talk about this." She and Goten weren't sleeping together. Why would her mother think that just because she had a couple of passion marks?

"Well, I think we should talk about it. Even though there aren't a whole lot of children now to show for it, you come from an extremely fertile line of women," Bulma said. "If you're not careful, you could pop out dozens of kids before you even know it." She sighed. "I knew I should have started you on birth control when you started high school."

"MOOOOOM! Goten and I aren't intimate," Bra told her mother, still covering her face. This was so embarrassing for her. It was worse than the mating conversation she'd had with her father.

"Yet," Bulma added. "It's only a matter of time."

Bra groaned. "I want to talk to you about something else right now. It's really important."

Bulma had a concerned look on her face. "What is it? Is something wrong?" She slapped herself on the forehead. "Oh. It must be about the readings. I've been working with--"

"No," Bra interrupted. As much as she wished to hear about her mother's findings, Bra had something else on her mind at the time. "Not just yet. Just hear me out." There was no avoiding it now. She may as well get straight to it. "I asked Goten to marry me and he said yes. We're engaged."

Bulma gasped. Her expression went from surprise to utter joy. "Bra, that's great! That's wonderful news!" She looked confused. "Did you just say that you're engaged!"

Bra nodded slowly. "Ring and all."

Bulma looked at Bra strangely for a moment. "That's a really big step to take so early on in your life. Are you sure this is something you want to do?"

"I wouldn't have done it if I didn't think it was the right thing to do," Bra said quite frankly. She wasn't about to show any sign of doubt. It was something both she and Goten wanted. And it was something they would go through with regardless of whether they had her mother's consent or not.

"Well, you're a confident, capable, intelligent and independent young lady. I'm behind you with this engagement. If I would have known the man I loved as long as you've known Goten and knew that I was truly in love at your age, I would have done the same thing," Bulma said. Utter joy returned to her face. "Bra, that's fantastic! I'm very happy for you and Goten. You're a little young to get engaged, but you're headstrong. You know what you want." She smiled warmly. "This is finally my chance to become a grandmother. After you're done with your schooling, of course." She giggled like a school girl.

Bra could only blush. She should have known that her mother wouldn't have a problem with their engagement. No, not her mother. It was her father who would object. But she would deal with him in time. "Now, tell me about those brain waves."

Bulma was still daydreaming. About grandkids, no doubt.

"Wake up, Mom. EEGs, remember?" Bra said.

"Of course. The brain wave tests," Bulma recalled. "Now, I don't have them with me right now. They're still in the main lab if you wanted to take a look at them. But in short, you and your father were the only ones with the hidden wave. At least to that extent. The others had slightly strange readings, but you two had the most remarkable ones. That makes it harder to understand really. But I'm doing Goku's test today. Maybe his will tell me something different."

Bra smiled. "You know, since he's the only one having his done today, I'd like to retest."

Bulma looked confused. "Retest? Why?"

Bra winked. "I've got a feeling that I'll be able to tell you exactly what that hidden wave is all about."

--school--

"Alright, Pan. I've been watching you and Trunks. What's going on?" Bra asked as she took her seat in front of Pan.

Pan was sitting behind Bra pretending to study with her face covered. But she'd been sleeping. She looked up with tired eyes. "Huh? Oh. Hey, Bra. That was some night last night, wasn't it?"

"Yeah. Now what about you and Trunks?" Bra questioned.

"What about us?" Pan said. She perked up. "Oh! My mom caught me when I came in late last night. I was gonna have to do 3 weeks, but my dad got the sentence reduced to 2. I can't wait to break out and see how much more trouble I can get into."

Bra put her hands on her hips. She wasn't about to fall for this. Pan was trying to change the subject again. But Bra would make sure to stay on track this time. "You were hugged up on that guy all night last night."

Pan blushed a little. "What? Who? Trunks?"

"Uh huh," Bra answered. "What's going on with you two?"

"Oh, come on, Bra. Trunks may as well be, like, my big brother," Pan told her a little nervously.

"Well, Trunks IS my big brother and I don't cling to him like you were doing last night," Bra pointed out.

Pan looked away. "That's because you're not affectionate with your family. How often do you hug your dad?"

Bra furrowed her brow. "Hug? _MY_ dad?"

"Exactly," Pan said. "But you're plenty affectionate with Goten, aren't you?" She grinned.

It was Bra's turn to blush this time. "Boy, you're really trying to throw me off this time. Why don't you just tell me what's going on between you and Trunks?"

"Because I don't know what's going on between me and Trunks," Pan said simply. She stared at her desk top and started poking it. "He kissed me last night when he took me home." She shrugged.

Bra raised her eyebrows. "Alright. Now you get to deal with what Marron and I have to put up with first hand. It's a little different from this angle, isn't it, Genius of Practicality?"

"What did you just call me?" Pan asked, finally looking up at Bra.

It had been an 'inside' joke. Bra found it funny anyway. Pan had always found it fun to give advice on relationships, though she was never in one herself. Now she was living in the real world with the rest of her friends. It wasn't so easy being on the inside looking out.

"Never mind," Bra told her. "So, what did you do when he kissed you?"

Pan blushed again. "What do you think I did? I kissed him back. But I don't think he thought I would." She shrugged again.

Bra looked at Pan with a sly smile on her face. "Alright, then what?"

"Oh, come on, Bra. It was a little kiss. We kissed and I went inside. That's when my parents found me. Who knew they were gonna wait up for me?" Pan said.

Changing the subject again. "Did he say anything to you after the kiss? Did you say anything to him?" Bra asked, trying to keep Pan on track.

Pan sighed loudly. "All he said was that I should go get some rest. That was it." She looked at Bra for a while. "Man, what's up with the '20 questions'? I mean, we should be talking about something more important. Like how you're about to become Mrs. Son."

Bra looked around. "Kinda loud. I don't want everyone in the world to know."

"Sure you do, or you wouldn't have proposed," Pan said. "The whole proposal went over rather nicely if you ask me. The game was great. And then when you were both on your knees, I thought it was so cute to see you two like that. I almost cried. It was so romantic."

"You're a real softie, Pan," Bra stated.

"Well, you were the one all teary when you asked him. So you're a softie too," Pan told her. She folded her arms across her chest. "You're both softies because I saw tears in his eyes too."

"Then we'll just be a softie couple," Bra said. She sighed. "I can't believe he wants us to get married so soon. That was something I didn't expect."

"It's great! I think it's really romantic. Love conquers all. Even the age barrier," Pan sang.

Bra frowned. "But my dad's gonna freak when he finds out that I proposed to him, let alone how soon we plan to get married."

Pan raspberried. "Don't worry about your dad. He knows that you're with Goten. He knows how you two feel about each other. If I were you, I wouldn't stress it too much. Once you let him know how it's gonna be, it'll roll off like water off a ducks back."

Bra frowned. Now Pan should have known better.

--End Articulate Announcements--

--For all you folks out there who wished for a Goten-filled episode after this long wait, I'm sorry. As much as I'd like to see more Goten myself, these episodes have to be done. But never fear. More Goten is to come.

--Thank you all for everything. I know it's not easy being on the receiving end of this kind of punishment. The torture of having to wait for the next part of a story. It's a painful thing. But I am trying to provide this entertainment in as timely a fashion as possible without failing my classes.

--Stay tuned. I have a feeling some fun stuff is gonna happen in this next episode.


	22. Burble

Versus 4: Temporal Distortion

--Burble--

During lunch Bra found the strangest thing in her locker. A note that read:

_Dear Bra,_

_I was on my lunch break at my new job, which is going great, by the way, and I decided to see if I could pick you up for lunch. Unfortunately, you were nowhere to be found. So, I spent the day with my mom instead. I told her about the engagement and she was ecstatic. She wants to invite us over tonight for dinner. She was even thinking of inviting your mom and dad as well. It's just going to be a small gathering. She wants us to be there around 7:00. It's going to be casual, so don't worry about dressing up. I can pick you up early. Maybe we can do a little sparring. I'll see you tonight._

_Love, Goten_

Did he just say her dad? Uh, oh...

She hadn't expected for him to be looking for her during his first day of work. She'd cursed herself for not staying in one spot. Her obsession with the song 'Shame in You', by Alice in Chains had driven her to walk around outside the school during lunch. And seeing how on that particular song the music was credited to all the band members, it was no wonder she'd become attached. The lyrics were great, but it was the music and the actual vocalization that impressed her most about the song. It created a strange kind of mood that she couldn't really explain. And it possessed an electrifying beauty that only AIC could provide.

Anyway, Goten had probably searched for her in the halls while she was outside. So they'd missed each other.

But now was no time to reminisce about what might have been for lunch. She had an after school date with an electroencephalograph.

Bra took off for home, knowing that by now Goku was getting his brain wave test done. She would be able to get hers done and would have plenty of time to get ready for this wonderful dinner ChiChi had planned for them.

Since Pan was grounded, she had to go home right after school. Bra wasn't able to hang out with her today. But today it was for the best. It would give Bra a chance to start her brain wave testing early.

When Bra walked into the house, she saw that everything would go as planned. Bulma was sitting on the sofa talking with Goku.

"Bra, hi," Goku greeted, as happily as always.

"Hi, honey," Bulma greeted as well.

Bra walked on inside and set her book bag down by the door. "Hi," was all she could think to say. She was sure that her mother had been spilling the beans about her engagement to Goten. And if she hadn't been the first to tell Goku, then surely his wife had let him know.

"I hear you and Goten plan to tie the knot," Goku said. He stood and hugged Bra. "This is great. ChiChi is so happy."

Bra wasn't really sure what to do, but she was quickly reminded that Goten looked exactly like his father.

"I came over right after ChiChi told me," Goku told her, still hugging her. "I'll bet Vegeta'll be happy to hear the great news."

Bra's heart sank and she could see her mother shaking her head.

"ChiChi's inviting you all to our house for dinner tonight. To celebrate," Goku went on. He finally let her go.

"I look forward to it," Bra said.

Bulma stood. "Listen, I hate to put a rush on things, but I'd like to talk to Vegeta before we come to your house, Goku. I'd hate for him to be surprised by the news." She looked at Bra. "Bra, go on to my lab and I'll set you up in just a minute. I'll show Goku out."

Bra nodded. "Let me just take my books up to my room." She ran to the door and grabbed her book bag. "I'll see you tonight, Mr. Son."

"You can call me dad," Goku said gleefully.

She made her way to her bedroom and tossed her book bag on the bed. She was about to head to the lab when she saw her answering machine flashing. Was it a message from Goten? She quickly ran to the machine and hit the button.

"Bra, hey. This is Nick. Wes has been keeping in touch, but I haven't called since we got to Vegas, so I thought I'd check in with you guys. Things are going great here. The crowds love us. Every time we play a show the crowds get bigger for the next. We've been playing day an night since we got here. We haven't really had a whole lot of time off. We're having a great time. And we love playing for these people, even though it's not like the fans we have back home. Anyway, I'd better leave our hotel phone number. Maybe you could give us a call sometime," the voice on the machine said. He left a phone number and let her know good times to call.

Bra could barely make her only message out. There was a whole lot of extra background noise. She wrote the phone number and the times down. She was glad that they were having a good time. She may even have to call him tomorrow. She kind of missed having him around to bother her about history and various geological things that he would sometimes talk to her about around the house.

Boy, would Nick be surprised when he hears that she's engaged now.

She quickly made her way to her mother's lab, but she didn't beat her there. Bulma was waiting for her when she arrived.

"Goku's so excited about you and Goten being engaged," Bulma told her. "I'm not sure why. I don't remember him being this happy when Gohan and Videl got engaged." She laughed a little.

Bra hopped up on the examination table. "Maybe it's because Goten and I are both Saiyans." She laughed a little.

"That's possible," Bulma said. She stuck the electrodes onto Bra's head and pulled out a fresh needle.

Bra frowned. "I really--"

Bulma sighed loudly. "Don't give me trouble like Goku did. He ran away from this thing for the longest time. I knew he hated needles, but I didn't know he hated them that much. I had to call ChiChi to calm him down."

"I'm not going to run. I just don't like the idea of something forcing me to go to sleep," Bra explained. She sighed and held her arm out to her mother. "I'm ready."

--afterwards--

Bra opened her eyes and the first thing she thought she saw was Goten's face. She couldn't tell if it was really him, though. She rubbed her eyes and looked at him for a while. She noticed he was wearing his training gi.

"Are you awake?" Goten asked.

"Ugh... Do I look awake?" Bra asked. After this, she was absolutely positive that she would never have anyone force her to sleep again. It felt unnatural and it was hard to wake up. She felt around the examination table, not really sure of what she might be searching for.

"To be honest, no, you don't," Goten told her.

"Figures. What time is it?" Bra asked. She would have looked at the clock herself, but she could barely see.

"Around 4:30," Goten answered. He took her hand to help her off the lab table.

Bra hopped down and she slowly began regaining her vision. "What are you doing here so early? The dinner's not till 7:00."

Goten laughed a little. "I know that. But I also said that I wanted to spar, remember?"

"Oh. I thought you meant after dinner," Bra told him. Then she thought for a while. "It would be completely dark by then, wouldn't it?"

Goten nodded. He looked a little confused. "Um, your mom told me that you were retesting. Why'd you do that?"

Bra leaned against him a little. "I think I know what's going on with those tests. Actually, it's just my test and my father's test so far. But I still need to know more before I put together all the parts of my theory."

"I'm totally lost on that," Goten said.

"Don't worry about it. Everything's fine," Bra assured him. She smiled. "Let me change into my training gear and I'll be right back."

--wastelands--

Bra did her usual stretches and watched Goten do his. Her head was now clear of the sleeping agent her mother had injected into her bloodstream. She now felt more alert and more alive than ever. She hadn't really been training lately, so this would hopefully get her back on track. She had her own gravity chamber now. She could train as hard as she wanted whenever she wanted.

Goten watched her do her stretches as well. He seemed to be focused on fighting. He had that fight in his eyes that she'd seen all those years when they were both younger. Powering up to Super Saiyan 2, he smirked confidently. "Alright, Bra. It's time we both go all out right now. From the start. I don't want you to hold back on me. And I don't plan on holding back on you."

Bra transformed into a level 2 Super Saiyan and smirked as well. "All out. No holding back."

They stood only a couple of feet from each other and their enormous auras burned around them, almost as one. Bra could feel that her power was even greater than his. But she learned a long time ago that power is nothing if you don't know how to utilize it effectively.

Since they were both just standing there, she figured it would be a good idea for her to attack first. She punched at his head, but he easily moved out of the way, ducked under her attacking arm and kicked her away. She flew backwards a few feet, then stopped herself. She should have known that he would wait for her to attack and then simply counter it. She looked toward where she'd previously seen him, but he wasn't there.

She quickly did an about face as Goten was throwing little ki balls at her. She deflected the first few with one hand, then tossed the last two back at him. That was when she decided to take to the skies. She watched Goten as he flew after her and threw a couple of ki balls of her own. He deflected the first ki ball, but before he could deflect the second, she had phased behind him and kicked him up higher into the air. Jetting up to where he was, she attacked with a seemingly endless array of punches and kicks, knees and elbows. Goten dodged a few, and then started his own array of attacks.

They attacked and dodged and blocked for a long time. The two seemed to be on level ground as they were fighting. It was amazing that they were even fighting like this on the day after they'd gotten engaged. She saw that he was even wearing the ring while they were sparring. In a way, she never would have thought in a million years that she would be getting married to someone who wanted to spar with her. Then again, in a way, she knew that some day she would marry this man who loved to fight as much as she did. He actually put his feelings for her aside enough to pit his strength up against hers. It was what dream relationships were made of.

Okay, from the outside it must have looked psychotic. There were marriage counselors out there who preached against couples physically fighting each other. But this was training. This was different. Their sparring was out of respect for each other. It was an honor to test herself on this level with him. And as Bra moved her head slightly to the right to get out of the way of one of Goten's elbows, she hoped that he found it to be an honor as well.

She finally got a clear shot at Goten's stomach and shot a knee to it. In the time that he was stunned by that, she decided to clasp her hands together and slam him down to earth. WHAM! She sent him on his way. She immediately followed up with at least 20 ki balls.

Before the smoke could even clear, Bra felt a foot being planted into her upper back. She gasped for air and before she could stop herself, Goten had phased in front of her and kicked her up into the air. She didn't have a chance to stop herself from flying upward before he appeared beside her and kicked her off to the side.

To her surprise, she had quickly been slammed into the side of a mountain. Since when had they gotten that far away from the middle of the wasteland? "Uuugh..." she groaned as she tried to peal herself from the imprint in the mountain. Bra expanded her aura violently to crumble the rocks that once imprisoned her.

"...HAAAAMEEEEEE!" was all she heard of Goten's technique. "HAAAAAAA!"

She turned toward him as the ki blast blinded her. She held out her hands to block the beam as best she could. She could feel the force of the blast pressing against her.

Goten added pressure to the blast. "It's over!" he called out to her.

"Oh, no, you don't! I'm not done yet!" Bra shouted back at him. The blast was burning her hands, but she had to keep going. She slowly started flying toward him, pushing the blast as best she could.

"Huh?" she heard Goten ask.

In mid air, she was moving his Kamehameha wave and herself back at him.

She had a feeling that she was about to lose this fight no matter how hard she tried. No matter what impossible feat she was pulling off. She gritted her teeth. If she could just get close enough to him...

"I'm not stopping this Kamehameha no matter what you do!" Goten shouted.

Bra smirked and started to glow. "You won't have to stop it. I'll still win," she said confidently. Once she got close enough, she set off her trigger and created a self-explosion that engulfed everything in the area...

Nothing but smoke could be seen at first. Then two bodies crashed landed from high up in the sky. They remained silent for a long time...

A very long time...

The smoke and dust slowly started to clear...

"Goten?" Bra could barely get out. She coughed. "Goten?" She looked over at the body that lay in the distance. She was much too weak to move. But she started crawling anyway. She slowly made her way over to Goten and put her hand on his. "Go-ten," she said breathlessly.

Goten turned to look at her. Much like hers, his face was covered in dirt and parts of his clothes were damaged beyond all recognition. "Bra..." He took a deep breath. "When did you...learn to do that?" He smiled at her.

Bra smiled back. "My dad...told me about it...a long time...ago. It's really hard to...control. I just figured I...would try it one...day... Back when I was 11... And I've worked on perfecting...it from...time to time." She took another deep breath and sat up. Every part of her ached.

Goten sat up as well. "Will you...teach me to do that?"

Bra laughed and held her stomach. "Ouch!" She looked at Goten. "No... Go learn the Spirit Bomb from...your dad."

--End Burble--

--That's another chapter. Not quite the Goten and Bra action you would have liked? Oops!

--Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. You've all been so kind.

--Not chatty today. So, I guess I'll see you next time.


	23. Controversy

--Notes: Ah, yes. This is the part where I make comments on reviews that I've received. As you can see, I'm trying to do these earlier.

--Topic 1: Self Explosion - Yes, it is true that in the series any time someone does this technique, they die. They're blown into a million tiny pieces and they cease to exist on this plane. So, yes, it's what I like to call an ALL OR NOTHING. Now, as you can see, this was the technique Bra performed to win her sparring match with Goten. Why is she still alive? I'm glad you asked. And here we go: 1) I generally ignore things in the series, though some things from the series still apply to this story. It's a strange and confusing lot for the people who chose to read this story. 2) I just thought it would be really cool to bring that technique up since it is so rare that it used in the series. 3) I seriously want to know how the people who do that technique know they can do it. I mean, in the series they talk about it like _anyone_ can do it, but, let's be serious, no one ever does (besides certain people). 4) When it IS used in the series, it is all to no avail anyway. I thought I would make it do something other than kill the people who use it.

--In short, I thought it would be fun, so I did it. I probably should have come up with another name for it to avoid confusion, but that was what she did. Only she didn't kill herself or her opponent.

--Topic 2 (and thankfully a much smaller topic): Goku's Feelings About Gohan and Videl's Marriage - Bulma said that she thought Goku seemed more excited about Goten and Bra getting married than he was about Gohan and Videl getting married. But that's impossible. He should be equally happy about both of his kid's marriages. Why does it seem that way? 1) Bra is Bulma and Vegeta's daughter... No offense, but Goku had no clue who Videl was. Gohan met her in high school. 2) Bulma may have just seen it that way because that's her little girl.

--In short, Bulma didn't say that Goku hated that Gohan and Videl got married. And from her point of view, it may have looked like Goku was happier about Bra and Goten's engagement.

--Topic 3: The Strangeness of Sparring After Getting Engaged - Yes, it was strange to see these two who love each other so much fight. Yes, I did that on purpose. And the reason is simple. They are born fighters. They were sparring before they got engaged and surely they will spar even after they get married.

--In short, I found it funny. (How many couples do you know with fight each other just for the sake of fighting...? Okay, Bulma and Vegeta don't count. That's not the kind of fighting I'm talking about.)

--Topic 4: The Brain Wave Tests - There is more to come...

--Now then. Answering questions you may have or making comments about something I've done is very fun for me. I don't know that it's so fun for you. It's just more reading with a whole lot of _me_ and whole lot less of Goten and Bra.

--Conclusion: I've prattled on long enough. I should really learn to shut up.

Versus 4: Temporal Distortion

--Controversy--

Goten sighed as he sat on the ground right outside the wasteland where he and Bra normally sparred. "I never would have guessed you could do that. It just seems like it would be hard to gauge." He was, of course, referring to the attack Bra performed to end the sparring match. Her explosion.

Bra was seated beside him. "Yeah, you have to be really careful how you do it, or you could blow yourself to smithereens. It takes guts to use that technique. You have to be willing to do whatever it takes. I knew what your power was, so I made sure that the explosion wasn't enough to do any major damage to either of us."

"It sure surprised me," Goten told her. He put his hand on hers. "You're a great fighter. I always look forward to sparring with you."

It was all she'd ever wanted to hear. That she was on level fighting ground with him. She felt like she could take on the world.

"It's getting late," Goten said.

Bra nodded. "We're both pretty banged up. We'll look awful if we went to dinner like this. But there's not enough time to use my dad's regen tank."

Goten looked at his bruises and scars, then at Bra's. "Yeah. You're right."

"What would your mom say if she saw us like this? She'd probably want us to cancel the engagement," Bra said.

Goten frowned. "I don't think she would go that far. Besides, she knows that we're fighters..." He frowned harder. "You know, you might have a point."

They thought for a long time...

"Senzu," Goten seemed to say out of nowhere.

"Huh?" Bra asked.

"Senzu beans. If we ate senzu beans, we'd be completely healed," Goten explained.

Bra laughed. "Goten, you're a genius." She stood and helped him to his feet.

"Yeah, I'm more than just a pretty face, you know," Goten said facetiously.

Bra put her arm around his waist and smiled. She knew that he thought he was joking around by saying that. She'd fix him. "You're all of the above."

She could tell that she had surprised him with that statement. So before he could say anything about it, she stated, "Korin's tower, here we come," leaving him utterly speechless.

The two had reached Korin's Tower in no time.

"Goku? Bulma?" Korin asked once they arrived. He narrowed his already narrow eyes even more to get a good look at them. "I swear you kids get younger and younger every time I see you."

"No. Guess again," Goten said with a grin.

Bra giggled a little under her breath.

Korin looked at them for a long time. "I give up."

"Goten and Bra," Goten told him. "I'm Goku and ChiChi's youngest son, remember."

"And I'm Bulma and Vegeta's daughter," Bra informed.

"Oh, right. It's been a while since I've seen any of you," Korin said. "You could at least drop by more often or something." The cat walked closer to them. "You're here for senzu."

"Wow. You didn't know who we were, but you knew what we came for. That's amazing," Goten said, sounding truly mystified.

Bra shook her head. She knew what was coming next. Maybe she shouldn't have given Goten credit for being a genius. She giggled at the thought.

"Yes. I am all-knowing. And you two look pretty beat up. I should have known that Bulma wouldn't get herself into a situation where she ends up looking like you two look," Korin told them.

Goten blushed and scratched the back of his head. "Oh. Right," he said with an embarrassed chuckle.

Bra could only smile.

"Just like your father," Korin told him. He turned away. "Yajirobe! I need two senzu beans! I know we have an overstock these days!" he shouted.

Goten and Bra looked at each other.

"Alright! I'm coming! I'm coming!" the voice from downstairs called. The roly-poly of a man made his way up to where they were and looked them over. "Well, now. It's Goten and Bra. You two look pretty beat up."

"Hi, Yajirobe," Goten greeted.

"Hi, Yajirobe," Bra greeted as well.

Yajirobe looked Bra over longer than he should have and moved closer. "Hey. So, Bra. What are you doing these days?" He had a strange smile on his face.

Bra looked around. "Who? Me?"

Goten fumed. "Excuse me. You're flirting with my fiancé," he said rather calmly.

Was Yajirobe flirting? Bra hugged herself. That was such a sickening thought, she almost passed out.

"Fiancé!" both Korin and Yajirobe asked.

Yajirobe smiled devilishly. "Way to go, man. You landed a real babe." He handed Goten the senzu beans.

Goten still looked a little angry, but he took the senzu anyway.

Bra raised her eyebrows. Goten sure was acting strangely. Was he jealous?

Korin laughed a little. "I wonder if Dende knows about this," he muttered.

Bra put her arms around one of Goten's and his expression softened. "We'd better get going, Goten. We'll be late for your mom's dinner."

Goten looked at her. "Alright." He gave her a senzu bean and ate one.

They were miraculously healed. All of Bra's sore muscles stopped aching. The burning sensation in her hands finally stopped. All of the burns and bruises vanished.

She smiled. "These things are great. Thanks guys."

"Yeah. Thanks," Goten said. He took Bra by the hand. "We'll see you guys some other time. Maybe we'll visit more often."

As they took off flying, they heard Korin say, "Yeah, yeah."

--back at Capsule Corp

Goten and Bra pulled up at the Brief home and the first thing they heard was the sound of shouting.

"Vegeta, she loves him! It was her decision to make the move and she made it! I don't see what the big fuss is about!" Bulma's voice could easily be heard outside. Apparently, the living room was not semi-soundproof like the rest of the house.

"I don't care who did what!" Vegeta bellowed. "I won't have my only daughter marry the son of a clown!"

Bra stood at the front door and rolled her eyes. "This is not good."

Goten nodded. "I'm not letting you go in there alone."

Bra just looked at him for a while.

"She's my daughter too, you overconfident orangutan! You're always talking about how you don't want her to be with someone weak! Then you say how you don't want her to be with Goku's son! I'd really like to know what exactly you have in mind for her because only one of two things is possible! One is that she marries someone strong like Goten! And the other is that she marries someone weak like anyone besides Goten!" Bulma screamed.

"There's one more possibility, glorified house cow! She could just NOT get married!" Vegeta shouted.

Things got quiet for a long time.

Bra groaned. "Alright. We're going in."

Before she opened the door, Goten took her by the hands and pulled her close. "It's gonna take a whole lot more than your dad to keep me away from you."

Bra smiled a little. "Same here." She pecked him on the lips and they walked into the house hand-in-hand.

Bulma was standing right behind Vegeta with her hand on his shoulder. "...is about, isn't it?" she asked him in a much more quiet tone.

When they heard the door close, her parents both turned to face them.

Vegeta glared at Goten. But Goten simply looked back at him.

"Oh. Hi, Bra. Hi, Goten," Bulma said to them. "Where have you been?" She looked at their burned, dirty and torn clothes.

Bra ignored her mother's question. "Mom, Dad, I think we should all just sit down and talk."

"There's nothing--" Vegeta began.

"Vegeta, enough!" Bulma told her husband, quickly turning toward him.

Vegeta looked at her angrily, but didn't say anything.

"We are going to sit down and discuss this like adults," Bulma said to him. "Like ADULTS. That's what you are, isn't it, Vegeta?"

"Don't insult me, woman," Vegeta said through his teeth.

Bulma pointed to the sofa for him to sit down.

Vegeta grumbled something incoherent, but did what she said. Or signed.

And Bulma took a seat beside him.

Bra cleared her throat. "Considering the yelling we heard outside, I assume that you both know about our engagement."

Vegeta looked as though he were about to say something, but Bulma shot an ice-cold stare at him to shut him up.

"It was my decision to ask Goten to marry me," Bra went on. "I asked him because I love him. If it were something I didn't want to do, I wouldn't have done it."

Goten looked at Bulma and Vegeta, still holding her hand. "And if it were something I didn't want to do, I wouldn't have accepted. I love your daughter. I would do anything for her. Anything."

"Well, I believe that you two were meant for each other," Bulma added. "I've watched you grow up and I couldn't think of any pair more perfect." She smiled at them.

Vegeta's silence would only last so long. "Are you saps done with your chatter? Because I'd like to say something now."

They all gave Vegeta their attention.

"Bra, you aren't marrying him," Vegeta told them, plain and simple.

Bra gasped. "But Papa--!"

Vegeta cut her statement short. "Don't try that on me this time."

She noticed that Goten hadn't said anything. When she looked over at him, she saw that his face was twisted in an angry expression. His eyes had even flashed that oh so familiar aquamarine color. But he remained silent for the time being.

Bulma put her hands on her hips and stood from her seat on the sofa. "You're such a domineering dolt! If you didn't want them to be together, why did you give them permission to start seeing each other in the first place?"

"Because I thought she would kill him," Vegeta said, like it was nothing at all.

Bra became silent, wondering exactly where her father was going with all of this.

Bulma shook her head. "What? Vegeta, you're not making any sense."

Parts of conversations she'd had with her father regarding this issue began pouring back into her mind...

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

When she fought her father:

_"Vegeta, I don't want to fight you. But if it means that I'll be able to be with your daughter in peace, then I guess that's what it's come down to," Goten told him. He took his fighting stance._

_Vegeta smirked and took his stance. "You're either brave or foolish to butt heads with the prince of all Saiyans. And I think it all comes down to how foolish you are." He powered up to Super Saiyan level 2. "When I'm done here, you'll think twice before you try to manipulate someone else's daughter."_

_That was it. That was the last straw. Bra powered up to Super Saiyan level 2 and phased over to where her father and the love of her life stood. "Dad, I won't have it." She stood between the men._

_Vegeta looked at her strangely._

_Bulma's eyes bulged. "Wha--? She's a Super Saiyan too?"_

_"Goten's been nothing but kind to me my whole life. He's a great friend. But my feelings are my feelings. And it's not because he did anything to make me feel this way other than being himself," Bra told her father. "And he feels the same way about me." She looked over her shoulder at Goten and smiled. Then she looked back at her father with a serious expression. "So, if you can't handle that, you're just gonna have to take it up with the person you should have been taking it up with in the first place. Me." She took her stance._

_"Is she serious?" Bulma asked._

_Goten looked a little surprised._

_"She's talking about FIGHTING? She's talking about fighting her FATHER?" Bulma asked no one in particular._

_Goten walked over and stood behind Bra. "What are you doing?" he whispered._

_"Just stay out of this, Goten," Bra said without even turning toward him. "This is the only language he can understand, you know. It's the only way to get through to him."_

_"I'm not gonna let you do it," Goten stated. He placed his hand on her shoulder._

_Vegeta furrowed his brow._

_Bra finally turned and glared at Goten. "So, you're saying you're not gonna let me stand up to my father? So, you're saying you're not gonna let me make any decisions? So, you're saying you're not gonna let me express my feelings? So, you're saying you're not gonna let me be with you?" she exclaimed, getting louder and louder with each sentence._

_Goten held his hands up in defense and backed away a little. "Okay, okay. I get the picture. But there has to be some other way."_

_Bra turned back toward her father. "I want you to see that I'm not a little girl anymore. I want you to see that my feelings for him are real. And I'd like for us to have your blessing. So, if challenging you to a sparring match is the only way to prove myself, then I challenge you."_

_Bulma fainted and Goten quickly went to her aid._

_Vegeta smirked. "It's an interesting offer. And I think I'll set the conditions." He thought for a moment. "If you win, I'll give you and the brat my blessing. But if I win, you get no blessing from me and you are to never see him again."_

_Bra swallowed hard. It was a tough decision to make. She was putting it all on the line this time. Everything depended on whether she won or lost in a fight against her own father. She wasn't sure what the outcome would be, but she knew that her father would hold nothing back. Especially with such high stakes. And she would hold nothing back either. She looked back at Goten, who was holding her mother in his arms and looking at Bra worriedly. She had to do it for him. She had to do her best in order to be with him. Losing was not an option here because losing the fight meant losing everything._

_Bra took a deep breath and nodded to Vegeta. "The conditions are fair enough."_

_Vegeta nodded. "Then let us begin, child..." _

--------

When her father allowed her to start seeing him:

_"I'm not letting you do this. Fighting him isn't going to change the way I feel about him," Bra said to her father._

_"That may be. But killing him will change the way you deal with it," Vegeta retorted._

_"Well, if you kill him, you may as well kill me. Because I can't live without him," Bra said._

_Vegeta looked at Bra for a long time. "Then there's only one thing that can be done."_

_Bra looked at her father and tried her best to control her breathing. Inhale. Exhale.. Inhale... Exhale... Inhale..._

_"I will allow you to see each other," Vegeta announced..._

--------

When he talked to her about the L word:

_After a moment of silence, Vegeta spoke again. "I heard what happened here a few minutes ago. Now, as you know, I'm not one to pry. So I'm sure we both feel...out of place..."_

_What was he talking about? It wasn't like her father to babble. This WAS out of place._

_"I'll just get to the point here. You have a problem with...THAT word," Vegeta continued._

_THAT word? What word?_

_"You most likely inherited that from me," Vegeta went on._

_Inherited what? Bra wasn't sure what he was talking about. She just looked at him strangely._

_"What are you looking like that for?" Vegeta asked._

_"Dad, I don't know where you're going with this. What are you talking about?" Bra questioned._

_Vegeta rolled his eyes. "And you're supposed to be the smart one in all of this? Where has your mind been?"_

_Bra growled._

_"I'm talking about what that twit said to you before he left," Vegeta told her._

_Bra blushed. "You heard that?" Of course he heard it. He was sitting right above them when it was said._

_"Yes," Vegeta replied. "Welcome to the discussion. Now, like I was saying, you're probably never going to say that word to him. I've never said it to your mother. Never."_

_"Really?" Bra said. This was awkward. She never thought she'd be talking to her father about something like this. Of course, it made more sense than talking to her mother about it. She spits THAT word out like it's some kind of greeting. What was up with that?_

_"And I won't ever say it to her. Do you know why?" Vegeta asked._

_Bra shook her head._

_"I don't either," Vegeta informed her._

_So what was the point of this very strange, very uncomfortable conversation?_

_"It's just the way some of us are," Vegeta continued. "And she's still trying to get me to say it to this day. I don't understand why some people think it's so important to SAY it..."_

_Okay, he'd gone off into his own little world now. Man, her dad was a spectacular fighter, but she wasn't sure if he was altogether there. But she understood what he was getting at. He never said it to her mother, but he really did love her. And just because he didn't say it didn't mean that he didn't love her. At least she was pretty sure that that was what he meant. Theirs was a strange relationship indeed. Maybe it was a sign that she and Goten could work through this little shortcoming._

_By the time Bra turned around to say something else to her father, he was gone... Typical..._

--------

His enigmatic answer for why he let her start seeing Goten:

_She wasn't sure why she was about to ask her father what she was about to ask him. It had plagued her since it happened. She needed an answer, so she worked up the nerve to ask: "Why did you give us your consent? Why did you agree to let Goten and me see each other?"_

_Vegeta looked at his daughter for a long time. "There's no SIMPLE explanation." With that, he left..._

--------

When she had to put Goten in her dad's rejuvenation chamber after nearly killing him:

_Vegeta, with his arms folded across his chest, stood from his seat. "I knew that you used my rejuvenation chamber when you pushed yourself too hard. But when I came here and found the brat inside, well, I was a bit surprised to say the least." He looked at Bra for a long time. "What happened?"_

_Bra sighed. "I kinda went overboard when we were sparring, that's all."_

_Vegeta smirked. "That's what I thought. You've come a long way, child."_

_Bra just looked at her father strangely._

_"She tried to kill him," Pan interrupted. "She even left him there to die."_

_Vegeta looked at Pan. "Really?" He looked back at Bra. "It seems you've become a true Saiyan. Unlike some of the others of our race." He looked back at Goten in the chamber._

_"But that's not something I'm supposed to do. I'm not supposed to try to kill someone I love," Bra said before she even knew what she was saying._

_Pan looked surprised._

_Vegeta looked back at Bra and smirked again. "Oh, but it is. One fighter to another. It is the way of the Saiyan warrior. Today you will be acknowledged as the last true Saiyan." And with that, he was gone..._

--------

When she'd asked her father about the whole 'Last True Saiyan' thing:

_"You see, a long time ago, even before my father's time, fighting was used for everything. It made bonds between family members stronger. Especially near death sparring. It's even used as a form of courtship. A bit of a mating ritual, if that's what you want to call it. Only the strongest of Saiyans left their potential mates near death," Vegeta said. "It was only a matter of time before you ended up doing it. Your human side probably just had to come up with a reason to go through with it."_

_Bra blushed deeply. Mating? This was not something she wanted to talk to her father about. So, this meant that he was trying to tell her that it was okay for her to try to kill Goten? Well, it wasn't okay. This wasn't the old days on Planet Vegeta. She wasn't a part of this ancient race anymore. She was on Earth. And it was time for her to accept her human side. She just had to be brave enough to say that to him._

_"Why me?" Bra asked. "Why couldn't it be Goten?"_

_"Yeah right," Vegeta sighed. "No one knew this was going to happen to you. And I don't know why it didn't happen with any of the others. As a matter of fact, I'm surprised it's happening to anyone at all. But I had my suspicions when you volunteered to fight me a while back instead of letting the brat fight. Humanity has taken over the hearts and minds of these other half-breeds. We, Bra--you and I--are the last remaining Saiyans..."_

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Had that been what he hoped? Had he hoped that she would end her love's existence? But why?

"I thought that she would kill him," Vegeta repeated. "What doesn't make sense about that?"

Goten's expression went from angry to surprised, while his color went from warm to deathly pale.

Bra was just about to break several blood vessels trying to figure a way through this. How could her father hate someone she loved so much? How could he not support her when she obviously loved Goten with all her heart? What was so wrong with Goten that her father wouldn't approve? Her head had started to hurt just thinking about the whole situation.

Bulma folded her arms. "You can't be serious. There's no way you're really this adamant about making your daughter's life miserable."

"It isn't my intention to make her life miserable--" Vegeta began.

The telephone rang.

"Well, that's what you're doing," Bulma told him. "Look at her. Look at what you're doing to her." She went to the kitchen to answer the phone.

Bra took a deep breath, hoping it would help her maintain her sanity.

"Vegeta, I'd like your approval, but with or without it, Bra and I will be together," Goten said plainly.

Vegeta laughed cynically. "I should have killed you myself. It would have saved Bra a lot of heartache. That was a bad call on my part. I admit that. And thinking that she would kill you herself, well, it almost came to pass. Unfortunately, _almost_ wasn't good enough." He folded his arms and frowned. "What is it with you and this family? First you corrupt my son, and then you corrupt my daughter."

"Corrupt?" Goten and Bra asked at the same time.

"You've turned my own family against me, you son-of-a-clown," Vegeta stated. "My line shouldn't want anything to do with yours."

Oh, not this again. Bra looked at her father. "Dad, doesn't it only make sense that we would want to be with them?" She was, of course, inadvertently talking about Trunks and Pan as well. "The strong intermingle with the strong. YOU'RE the reason we're around them so much."

Vegeta thought for a while. "Hm. Point taken, child."

Both Goten and Bra's eyes lit up.

"Does that mean you'll really give us your blessing this time?" Bra asked with a smile.

"Of course not," Vegeta answered quickly.

Bra and Goten frowned.

"He's impossible," Bra told Goten. She looked back at her father. "But I think he forgot that I am too." She smirked.

Goten smirked as well.

Vegeta narrowed his eyes at both of them.

Bulma came back into the room. "Alright. That was ChiChi on the phone." She looked at her watch. "It's getting pretty close to 7:00. You two need to get ready." She looked at Vegeta. "Vegeta, you may not think much of Goten or Goku, but you're gonna behave when we go to their house."

"I don't--" Vegeta started.

"YOU WILL BEHAVE!" Bulma said. "We're going to Goku and ChiChi's house. All of us. And you will be civil. Because _I_ said so."

"Who do you think you are, woman?" Vegeta asked.

"Vegeta, I swear if you do one thing I don't like...," Bulma groaned.

Vegeta rolled his eyes. "If it will put a stop to your incessant nagging, I will go and be 'civil' at this dinner. But that doesn't mean I'll like it."

Bulma thought for a while, then smiled. "Well, I'll keep nagging you about Bra and Goten's engagement. Why don't you just save us both a lot of arguing and agree with that too?"

"I don't think so. Nice try though," Vegeta told her.

--End Controversy--

--Alright, that episode was kinda long. But that's because of when Bra looked back on what her father had told her. Now we've got a bunch of stubborn people in one place here and now they're gonna go to a dinner celebrating something they don't agree on. That spells trouble with a capital T, people.

--Thank you for reading this episode. Did you like it? Did you not like it? Let me know. I know it probably seemed like a cluttered mess, but that's kinda the way I see this situation.

--Thank you for your reviews. You're helping me out a lot. I'll have a better idea about how to go about doing certain things when I start writing other stories.


	24. Dissension

--You people are too kind to me. You write reviews all the time and it helps me out a lot.

--I'd like to make comments on some things reviewers have said. The Marron question: No, there was no mention of whether Marron had decided who she would be with or not. However, it is on its way. I'm glad you asked, though.

--Also I understand that one of you (or some of you) may not have watched DBZ in a while. I haven't seen it in, like, 10 or so years. And while my memory on some of the stuff is okay, I don't remember as much as it might take to actually write fanfics about it. So facts might get switched up and things of that sort. (That's one of the reasons I generally don't go by what happens in the series.) Oh, well. On with the show.

Versus 4: Temporal Distortion

--Dissension--

Goten had gone back to his apartment to wash up and, of course, Bra washed up in her shower. Once she was finished getting ready, she went into the living room to wait for Goten's return. She could hear her parents arguing in the kitchen. Why couldn't her father just accept that she and Goten were getting married? He had said himself that he knew they had feelings for each other a long time ago. It was only natural that she would want to marry him sooner or later. Granted, this was much sooner than anyone probably expected, but it shouldn't have been a big surprise for him.

He had said that he thought she would kill Goten. Instead of him getting rid of her love, he wanted her to do it. And to think, she almost did...

"What are you so afraid of?" Bra heard her mother ask her father.

"Afraid of? I'm not afraid of anything, woman," Vegeta told her.

"Don't give me that. You're afraid of something, or you wouldn't be making such a big fuss over this," Bulma said.

There was a long pause.

"Are you afraid that we'll lose our little girl?" Bulma questioned.

"That is absurd," Vegeta said. "I told you that I'm not afraid of anything."

"That's it, isn't it? It's not because Goten is Goku's son. It wouldn't have mattered who the guy would have been or when they got engaged, you wouldn't have agreed with it anyway. Because you're scared of losing your daughter," Bulma said.

Another pause.

"Why does that scare you so much, Vegeta?" Bulma asked.

"I already told you. I'm not afraid of anything," Vegeta insisted. "You wouldn't understand--"

"Then make me understand," Bulma said.

Bra heard a car outside. Though she was interested in where her parents' conversation was going, she had to let Goten back in. She ran over to the front door and opened it quickly. Even though they'd only been apart for a short while, he sure was a sight for sore eyes.

"Goten," was all Bra said. She couldn't help smiling up at him.

Goten smiled that smile of his and sent her heart into a frenzy. "You seem happy."

"Well, that's just the way you make me feel," Bra told him. She took his hand and pulled him inside. When she turned around, she saw that her parents had made it into the living room.

Bulma looked at her watch. "Ah, Goten. You're here. Alright people. It's time to go." She looked at the young couple. "We'll follow you guys over there." She pulled Vegeta along by the hand as if he were a child. He looked a little irritated, but at least he wasn't kicking and screaming.

Goten nodded. "Sure, Mrs. B."

Once Bra and Goten were in his car, Bra decided to start up a light conversation. "You know, you never told me exactly what it is you do at your new job."

Goten smiled as he drove along. "Well, I'll be writing history articles in the newspaper. You know the 'This Day in History' thing? The guy who wrote those retired, and that's where I came in. It's not very much fun right now, but they said that if I have what it takes, they'll let me start doing articles of my choice."

"That's great. I'm really glad you found a job. I still feel bad--" Bra began.

Goten laughed. "There you go again. You really have a hard time letting things go, don't you?"

"Well, if I let things go easily, I wouldn't even be with you right now," Bra told him. She nodded affirmatively and folded her arms across her chest.

"I guess you're right about that," Goten said as he drove along. "And speaking of being together, I think we should set a wedding date. If we set the date and tell them now, everyone will be well-informed well ahead of time."

Bra blushed a little and looked at Goten's hand on the steering wheel. She couldn't believe that Goten really wanted to get married before she even graduated from high school. She hadn't expected that, but it was a good sign that he was just as sure about their relationship as she was.

"I was thinking that maybe we could do it this summer," Goten said. "How does that sound?"

"That would be perfect. If we make it midsummer, I could get all these women together who like the idea of weddings. They can help me plan it," Bra said. She frowned at the thought of her mother, ChiChi, Videl, Pan, 18 and Marron dragging her all over town. "My mom's gonna want something huge. She'll probably want to get started right away." Maybe she wouldn't have to work too hard on it after all. She smiled at that thought.

"Oh, it won't be so bad. I know you don't like girly things like that, but it'll be worth it," Goten told her. "Midsummer works for me."

"Great. We can tell our parents when we plan to get married. They probably won't agree about it being so soon, but I think they'll get over it," Bra said. "Well, except my dad. But he doesn't like anything that doesn't go his way."

Goten laughed. "Don't you think that's a bit of an understatement?"

Bra was about to comment, but she had to remember that she too suffered from the same complex.

--later--

"Grandbabies!" Bulma and ChiChi squealed happily, as though it were some sort of new greeting.

As soon as they had arrived at the Sons' house, ChiChi and Bulma pretty much lost their marbles. The two ladies hugged each other.

Bra, Goten and Vegeta stood outside while the two emotional women blocked the entrance. And Goku peeped over the women's heads at everyone.

"Hi!" the merry Saiyan said. He offered them his usual wave and smile. He gently moved his wife and Bulma off to the side as they continued to chirp about spoiling children who weren't even around yet. "Come in. ChiChi's been cooking all afternoon."

Goten grinned. "I can tell. It smells great." He and Bra walked on into the house hand-in-hand.

"Hey, congratulations, you two," Goku said. He put an arm around each of them. "Engaged. This is great news."

"Thanks," Bra and Goten said at the same time. They looked at each other and smiled.

Goku laughed a little. Then he walked over to Vegeta, who had been standing outside and was silent the whole time. "Well, I guess this makes us brothers, huh, Vegeta?" He stuck out his hand for a shake.

Vegeta growled at him. "You are no brother of mine, Kakarot." He folded his arms.

Goku smiled and put his arm around Vegeta's shoulder anyway. "Come in. ChiChi'll get mad if you leave the door open." He moved Vegeta along.

All Bra's father could do was look angry.

"Ah, hello everyone," ChiChi said, finally finishing up her song and dance with Bulma. "I'd like to say a few words before--Goku, get back here!"

Goku had abandoned Vegeta and was about to go into the kitchen. When his wife called for him, he stopped and turned to her. "Huh? Oh! Sorry, Chi." He presented an ignorant grin.

Everyone stood attentively as ChiChi prepared to speak again. Vegeta was even cooperating for once.

"Now, when Gohan and Videl got married, she received a ring from her father that was once her mother's ring," ChiChi said. She looked at Bulma. "And I wouldn't want to step on anyone's toes, but I would like for Bra to have something very special to me." She walked over to Goten and handed him a little black box. Then she looked at Bra. "That is a ring that once belonged to _my_ mother. My dad only found it a few years ago when he was going through his things. He wanted me to have it. And now I'd like for you to have it."

There was a long silence and everyone could pretty much _hear_ Vegeta roll his eyes.

Bra was overwhelmed that ChiChi would give her something like this. It wasn't like she was her daughter. Of course, ChiChi didn't have a daughter to give it to. Bra stared at the box in Goten's hand.

"Goten, you're supposed to put it on her finger," ChiChi whispered to her son. She shook her head.

Goten had been sitting there staring at the box as well. "Huh? Oh! Sorry, Mom."

"Idiots. All of them," Vegeta murmured.

Bulma nudged her husband harshly, but she ended up hurting herself more than she hurt him. Vegeta just looked at her.

Goten removed the ring from its box and put it on Bra's finger--

"The other hand, Goten," ChiChi told him.

"I knew that," Goten said, changing the ring over. "I'm a little nervous here, okay?"

Bra smiled as she looked at the ring. "It's gorgeous. I'm honored, really. Thank you so much." It wasn't something she usually did, but she walked over and hugged ChiChi. She'd been accepted into their family. Which was more than she could say for poor Goten's situation with her father.

Bulma's eyes filled with tears. "This is so beautiful." She leaned against Vegeta.

Surprisingly enough, Vegeta didn't try to move away from her. He only looked at the ceiling.

ChiChi put her hands on Bra's shoulders and smiled. "Well, this is a celebration." She looked around the room. "Come on everyone. I've prepared a huge meal. I hope you enjoy it."

They all went into the kitchen. Goku was about to take his seat when ChiChi grabbed him by the collar. She whispered something to him. Then she dragged him over to the stove.

Goten was still holding Bra's hand as they sat side-by-side at the table.

Vegeta had his eyes on their every move, but he kept any comments he'd wanted to make to himself. He really was being civil today. As civil as someone is his shoes could be. He was, after all, in his rival's home. His rival, whose youngest son planned to marry his daughter.

He sat at the head of the table while Bulma sat at his side.

The host and hostess started bringing huge dishes of food to the table. Once everything was set up, Goku stood at the other head of the table and held up his glass. "A toast. To a relationship that will stand the test of time." He looked at Goten and Bra and smiled. Then he looked at ChiChi.

ChiChi stood beside him and held up her glass. "To a wonderful life filled with love." She looked at Bulma.

Bulma smiled, stood and held up her glass. "To healthy and beautiful children." She looked at Bra.

Bra's heart flitted, but she stood and held up her glass anyway. "To realizing what really matters in life and making the most of it." She looked at Goten.

Goten stood and held up his glass with a smile on his face. He put his free arm around Bra. "To keeping an open mind and an open heart, even against all odds." He hesitated for a moment, and then looked at Vegeta.

For a while, Vegeta just sat there, looking around at everyone who stared at him. And just when everyone thought it was hopeless, he stood and held up his glass.

Bulma looked a little worried. Vegeta had a tendency to say whatever was on his mind at the time. And considering he didn't like the idea of the two youngsters being together in the first place, he was bound to say something harsh or cruel.

Bra couldn't help being a little worried herself. The evening had gone surprisingly smoothly up until this point. It would be a shame for it all to be ruined now.

Even Goten looked slightly bothered by the fact that her father was about to speak.

ChiChi just looked more irritated than anything. Surely she considered the fact that he had nothing but bad things to say all the time.

Goku was just Goku. He smiled regardless of the situation.

"To the achieving of seemingly unattainable goals," Vegeta said with a smirk. He looked right at Bulma when he said it.

It must have brought back something from the past because Bulma smirked back at him.

But Bra was lost. All of these toasts were strange. Who were they toasting? Were they toasting her and Goten's relationship or were they toasting their own? Maybe it was a little of both. Wishing for the things they'd experienced in their relationships to be passed on to them. It made sense. It was kinda touching if you thought about it in that way.

They all chatted and ate and chatted some more, everyone making sure to comment on how great the food was. Well, except Vegeta. He wasn't about to do two good deeds in one day. The earth may have stopped spinning if he did.

At the end of dinner, Goten stood. "Um, we have an announcement to make before we all go our separate ways." He took Bra's hand and stood her up as well. "My mom and Mrs. B. have been asking about it all night, but we've purposefully been avoiding answering it." He looked at Bra and kissed her hand.

Bra looked around at everyone. "We've decided when we want to have the wedding." She took a deep breath. Why did Goten have to give her the hard part to say? "We're getting married in midsummer this coming year."

Silence filled the room, except for the fact that Goku was still shoveling in food.

"Oh, that is wonderful!" ChiChi said.

Bulma shook her head. "No. No, it's not wonderful." She looked at Bra and Goten. "What are you two thinking? Bra would only be a senior in high school. She won't even be a senior yet. She'll only be 17."

Vegeta looked like he wanted to laugh. "My, how the tables have turned. Now it is you who objects," he said, referring to Bulma.

Bulma shot a look at Vegeta that could have sliced through stone, but it did no damage to the Saiyan. She looked back at Bra and Goten.

"I don't see what the big deal is," Bra told her mother.

"The big deal is that you're still in high school," Bulma said.

"We've been talking about it. And that's the decision we came to," Goten explained.

"Oh, Goten. You should know better," Bulma sighed.

ChiChi frowned. "Know better? Come on, Bulma. He loves Bra. And she loves him."

Vegeta had begun to chuckle.

"Vegeta, you are not helping!" Bulma shouted.

"What does it matter if they get married this year or next year? The result will be the same," Vegeta said with a smirk. "And the more you object, the closer they become. It will only drive them to do it sooner."

ChiChi was a little amazed to hear him say something like that.

Bra looked confused. Nothing made sense anymore.

Goten leaned close to Bra and whispered, "Sometimes I have to wonder about your dad. He's so confusing to deal with. I don't know how you've lived with him for so long."

"You know, there's a fine line between sanity and insanity. I think my dad has one foot on each side," Bra muttered to Goten.

"She's your daughter. You must have forgotten what you were like when you and I first got together," Vegeta added.

Bulma shook her head and sighed. "Yeah. And the other one's the son of a guy who doesn't know the meaning of the word 'lose'. I guess I forget whose kids these are sometimes." She looked at him for a while. "But, Vegeta, you're the one who's been objecting to this relationship the whole time. What--?"

"Don't wrack your little human brain trying to figure it all out," Vegeta told her. "You wouldn't understand. How many times do I have to tell you that, woman?"

Bulma slowly smiled at him.

Bra could only look at them. Her parents sure were strange.

Goku suddenly let out a loud belch and rubbed his stomach. "Man, that was great!"

ChiChi slapped Goku on the back of the head. "Goku! Manners!"

"Oh, excuse me," Goku said, wearing that silly smile of his.

"Have you been paying attention to what's been going on? Bra and Goten are getting married this summer," ChiChi told him.

"Really?" Goku asked stupidly. A bigger smile popped up on his face. "Well, that's great. I didn't think the wedding would be so soon, but that's great."

Bulma giggled like a school girl. "Oh, we have so much to do. So much planning."

ChiChi and Bulma looked at each other. "Wedding dresses!" They both giggled like a couple of teeny-boppers.

Vegeta folded his arms and looked at the ceiling.

Goten leaned closer to Bra and whispered, "I'm kinda starting to think we should have eloped."

"Yeah, but it's a little too late to jump on that train," Bra told him.

Bulma and ChiChi had begun to dance around the kitchen singing about weddings and babies while Goku went on bothering Vegeta about being brothers.

--End Dissension--

--This was a strange and silly episode. So let me know what you think. I have a feeling that there's only 1 or 2 more left. I know I've been talking about the end of this series for a long time, but it's really about to come to a close now.

--Thanks for reading this episode. And thanks for all your reviews. If you have any suggestions, questions, or comments, please don't hesitate to let me know.


	25. Expressions

Versus 4: Temporal Distortion

--Expressions--

Bra looked at the ring that ChiChi had given to her. It had been her mother's ring. She probably shouldn't have accepted it, but ChiChi's feelings would most likely have been hurt had she not accepted it. She couldn't turn down something so meaningful and heartfelt.

She looked over at Goten as he silently drove them to his apartment. It was a little after 9:00 and they had only recently left the Son residence. The dinner had gone surprisingly well. Much better than Bra had expected. Before they went, she had envisioned the how the whole evening would turn out. In her mind things had gone much worse.

--------

_"Now that I have all the people I hate in one place, I'll destroy you all!" Vegeta yelled. He quickly powered up to the fabled Super Saiyan level 3 (which Bra herself had never seen, but for some reason he did it in this particular vision). Holding out his hand in that oh so familiar position, he gathered ki for his assault. "Take this! BIG BANG ATTACK!"_

_The Son house and everything around it went up in a huge blue-white explosion. The only thing left was a huge crater and Vegeta floating there with his hand still outstretched. He laughed fiendishly, maniacally and loud..._

--------

Bra had to shake the vision. It hadn't happened that way. Thank goodness. Instead he had toasted their relationship, saying, 'To the achieving of seemingly unattainable goals'. He hadn't destroyed anything. And considering his _supposed_ hatred for Goten, she began to wonder why. Her father's 'off again, on again' feelings toward her relationship with her love made little (if any) sense. She had already come to the conclusion that her father was emotionally inane to say the least. She would most definitely have to have a conversation with him that didn't leave her utterly perplexed. But he was always the one in control whenever she talked to him about these things.

Just thinking about the whole thing made her brain seem like it would implode. It was best to concentrate on something of that caliber another day. On a day when her mind was fresh.

They arrived at the apartment, but they both just sat in the car for a while.

"Everything's perfect now. Our parents know we're getting married soon," Goten said with a smile. "We've done it." He took her left hand with his right and intertwining her fingers with his, he stared at them. "And this is how you and I will be from now on. We're a part of each other. Inseparable, forever and always."

Bra's heart raced and she looked into his eyes. She saw that he had no fear of the prison sentence he could face (seeing how she was still a minor and all). She saw the commitment. She saw the love. But she also saw something else. She saw desire. Lust, if you will.

And though she could easily see that desire, he made no moves to appease it. And she began to wonder if he could see that same desire in her eyes as well. Could he feel that emotion within her? If he could see it in her eyes, feel it, then what kept him from acting on his own desire?

"Forever and always," she repeated quietly.

They finally got out of the car and went into the apartment. There was no sound. There was no one in sight. Was this place really empty? Were they really alone...? It must have been destiny. And when destiny is working in your favor, you don't go against the tide.

"Well, here we are," Goten said. "And we've still got a game to beat." He walked over to the TV and started hooking up the Xbox.

Bra walked over to where Goten stood and put her hands on her hips. "That's not what I had in mind."

Goten stopped what he was doing and looked at her, a little confused. "Um, just what DID you have in mind, then?"

She smirked at Goten and took his hands. "I'm ready," she whispered.

Goten was speechless as Bra lead him to his bedroom.

--the next morning--

Oh, she was not going to school today. She felt too good to let school ruin her mood. She would just lie in bed and wallow in the memory of her 'first time'. It was like nothing she had ever experienced. Well, in a way it was. It was almost like sparring. They had taken their time '_warming up_', but when they got right down to it, they REALLY got right down to it. While they displayed all the right moves, it had all happened so quickly. And when they'd both '_won out_' at the end of one match, they'd take a short breather and then start up another. It was more electrifying than any fight she'd ever had.

And she loved every minute of it. Though she used to think that she would like to have a long slow first time, this was 100 times better than she could ever have possibly imagined. Everything was so much more intense this way. Goten had been so very gentle, yet they had been surprisingly fast with the way they did things. And at that pace, there was no time for them to think about their actions; therefore all they were pumping out were pure, unfiltered emotions. Bra liked her fights that way and now she found that she also liked her love making that way.

And obviously, Goten had been rather '_enthusiastic_' about all of this...

Yes, she was tired. Yes, every muscle in her body ached. Yes, that one part of her in particular was in a little pain now. She wasn't really sure how that was possible when during last night she hadn't really felt any pain. Maybe things had gotten so intense that she just didn't feel the pain that most girls say they suffer when losing their virginity. Odd...

It had been a very VERY physical experience. Not in a psycho-lover kinda way. They just became well-acquainted with each other's body. That was the best way to put it.

The only thing that would have made the night better is if she would have been able to spend the night there with him. But she had to get back home, so he ended up driving her there. They had both been too worn out to fly.

Now she lay in a dream-like haze, wishing that she could be near him again. And if she closed her eyes, she could feel his touch... His hands caressing her every curve... His body pressed firmly against hers... His lips adoring her body in ways she never thought were possible... His tongue finding all of her most sensitive places...

As she half-dreamed of her night with Goten, she barely noticed that her hands seemed to be retracing every place he had explored. Apparently in order to feel again what he had made her feel. And apparently she was succeeding, even in her half-dozing state. She let out a quiet sigh mixed with a moan...

Bra heard a knock on her bedroom door and fully awoke. She rolled over so her back would be to the door and pulled her covers over her head. It had to be her mother. What awful timing.

Bulma opened the door. "Bra, honey."

She immediately wished she had locked her bedroom door.

"You're late for school," Bulma said as she neared the bed.

"I'm not going to school today," Bra mumbled from under her covers.

"What was that? You're not going to school? Are you feeling okay?" Bulma questioned.

Bra groaned. "Mother, go away. Everything's fine. I just don't feel like going to school today." She probably should have gone with the 'being sick' thing.

Bulma yanked the covers off of Bra's head. "You don't feel like going? Get up. You're not missing school just because you don't feel like going today." She sat on the edge of Bra's bed. "Just because you're engaged to be married doesn't mean you can skip school."

Bra groaned again and turned to her mother, narrowing her eyes a little. "Mom, it's just one day. I promise I'll go tomorrow."

Bulma looked at her for a while, then put a hand to her forehead. "You look unusually flushed today. Are you sure nothing's wrong?" She smiled. "Maybe you shouldn't have gone out with Goten last night. He's giving you more hickeys than your neck can handle." She giggled a little.

Bra blushed and rolled her eyes.

"You're gonna need something to cover those," Bulma said. "Because you're going to school. Get up."

"Fine," Bra muttered. She got up and made her way to her closet to pick out some clothes for the day.

"Oooooooh. Now I see what this is about," Bulma declared.

That statement seemed to come out of nowhere. Bra turned to her mother and looked at her strangely.

"I remember that walk," Bulma said. "I don't believe this. You finally did it. I hope it's safe to assume you two used protection."

Awwwww, crap. Was she really walking differently? She sure didn't feel like she was walking any differently.

"Mom, it's not what you think--" Bra began, but she stopped. What was she saying? It was exactly what she thought. But she'd expected a different reaction. "You're not mad?"

"Oh, honey. Why would I be mad? You're growing up. Sure, you're only 16 and you two aren't married yet, but it's only natural to want to be with someone you love in that way," Bulma told her. "The only reason I would be mad is if you told me you didn't use protection."

Bra looked away. "We were safe."

"Good," Bulma said. "Oh, my little girl is really a woman now." She walked over and took Bra's hand, then pulled her back to the bed and sat down with her. "So how was it?"

"Oh, come on, Mom!" Bra said, blushing deeply.

Bulma held up her hands in defense. "Alright, alright. I won't ask."

"Do I still have to go to school?" Bra whined.

Bulma thought for a while. "You don't want to talk, so there's really no reason for you to stay at home, now is there?"

Bra frowned. Even through all of this, she remembered that she had something really important look into. "But I do want to talk. Just not about this. I wanted to take a look at everyone's EEG readings."

Bulma snapped her fingers. "Right." She stood. "You can have the day off today. I'll even let you sleep in a little longer. Just come to my lab when you're ready to look at them." After a couple of seconds, she giggled. "My little girl's given away her virginity."

"MOM!" Bra shouted. "That's it." She stood and started gently pushing her mother out of the room. "Don't call me. I'll call you." She closed the door and remembered to lock it this time. And surprisingly when she collapsed onto her bed, she fell asleep.

--later--

It was something after 11:00 when Bra made her way in and out of the shower, and then to the kitchen. She needed food. Her stomach had been pleading with her since her mother woke her up around 8:00.

She looked at the milk carton in the back of the refrigerator, and then looked at all the stuff in front of it. "I sure don't feel like moving all this junk outta the way just to get some milk," she murmured lethargically. But she wanted cereal. She would starve if she didn't do something. She just stood with the refrigerator door open, hoping the carton would miraculously find its way into her hand...

She sighed...

The milk carton was still at the back of the refrigerator, most likely staring back at her, wondering why she was just standing there.

Bra summoned the will to move everything out of her way and grab the carton of milk. "Ah." She grabbed two boxes of Rice Crispies, the sugar dish and her favorite monster-sized cereal bowl. When she sat at the kitchen table she looked at her breakfast equipment and frowned. "Spoon."

Once she found a spoon she turned back to the table and saw Vegeta sitting there with several, several sausages and a loaf of bread. But he wasn't concentrating on his food. He was looking at her.

"Dad?" Bra asked as she took her seat at the table.

From the looks of it, he had been there the whole time, but she couldn't be too sure. Why hadn't she noticed him there? Wasn't it a little early for her father to be on his lunch break from training?

"What are you doing home from school?" Vegeta asked, genuinely perplexed.

"Didn't go," Bra told him. She prepared her cereal and started eating.

"I can see that," Vegeta said. "Why?"

"Didn't want to," Bra stated, shoveling spoon after heavenly spoon of snap, crackle and pop into her mouth. "I want to talk to you. About the dinner yesterday."

Vegeta looked at Bra strangely for a while. "Something's different here," he said slowly. "What are you up to, child?"

Bra panicked. Was it possible that he knew she'd slept with Goten? She took controlled breaths before she spoke again.

Right before she could say anything, her mother came into the kitchen wearing her little robe, which was opened, revealing the pale pink lingerie she had on underneath. "Oh, Vege--" When she saw Bra sitting there, she stopped and quickly closed her robe tightly around her. "Bra. Hi there... It kinda slipped my mind that you stayed home today." She smiled a little sheepishly.

Vegeta looked at the ceiling and shook his head.

Bra frowned. What had she gotten herself into? Maybe she should have gone to school.

Bulma cleared her throat. "That's right. You said that you wanted to go over those EEG readings." She took Bra's hand. "Come along." She pulled Bra to her lab.

Once they got to the lab, Bra looked around. "I wasn't done eating," she said quietly, mostly to herself.

Bulma tied her robe and started pulling out a bunch of EEG charts. "You can always get back to it." She lay the EEG readings out on one of the examination tables and showed Bra around. "Now, let's go over this again."

Bra looked around the table. Her mother had taken the liberty of clearly labeling whose readings did what. That was really convenient, considering she wasn't an expert on the subject herself. Sure, she had a theory about it, but she knew nothing of these brain waves or their true purposes.

"As I've already told you, there are different types of brain waves. These different types of waves occur in particular parts of the brain and are recorded from those regions of the head. The reason I wanted you all to be asleep is so that there wouldn't be different waves occurring from person to person. First, you have the awake and resting wave, or the alpha wave. There's the active mind wave, or the beta wave. You have the theta wave, which usually only occur in children or when an adult is in the earliest stages of sleep. But as you know, my main interest was the deep sleep wave, or the delta wave," Bulma explained. "There is a 5th type of wave--the gamma wave--which is the highest frequency wave and is associated with high-level processing."

Bra listened as her mother spewed forth this information. She'd remembered her mother mentioning something along those lines before. She had the basic principle of it, though she was sure that she wouldn't further her studies in this field of science. She could tell that her mother found it quite fascinating, however. It made her wonder why her mother hadn't become a physician. She surely had the knowledge to become one.

"Now, you know how I like to do things. I've tweaked this electroencephalograph, so it records more information than your standard EEG would," Bulma went on. "Every electrical impulse, no matter how small, is recorded on these sheets." She pointed to her own reading. "I consider myself your normal human. My brain wave during deep sleep is this very big very slow moving wave. And as you can see, there are some underlying waves, but they are all along the same frequency and amplitude."

"Alright. So what about the Saiyans?" Bra questioned.

"Well, I thought that your father would be the ideal Saiyan to study, but it seems he wasn't. He had the same readings you had when you first got yours done," Bulma said. "Now, you're probably wondering why I don't consider him the ideal Saiyan, seeing how you two were the first ones I did. You see, at first, I did. And I thought that Saiyans just had strange readings to begin with because, well, let's face it, you're not human. But when I decided to take a look at some other Saiyans, I realized that the kinds of waves you two displayed weren't normal at all. When I did Gohan's and Pan's, they pretty much came out like mine--"

"Pretty much?" Bra asked.

"Well, there are bound to be some differences. Just not so dramatic, like yours and your father's," Bulma answered.

She showed Bra the EEG readings of Pan and Gohan. Indeed, they looked the same for the most part.

"Goten and Trunks' readings were like theirs as well," Bulma told her. "So I figured, maybe it's got something to do with the percentage of Saiyan genetic material you possessed. Maybe the more Saiyan you are, the wilder your waves would be. Things like that. You know, the chances that genetics from both parents split right down the middle are actually very slim. I mean, think about it. You understand basic genetics, right?"

Bra nodded.

"Considering you have a father who's 100 Saiyan and a mother who's 100 human, you could possibly come out with 50 Saiyan genetics and 50 human genetics. Follow?" Bulma asked.

Bra simply nodded again.

"Now according to BASIC genetics, there is a 50 chance you'll come out with 50/50 genes, a 25 chance you'll come out with nothing but human genes, and a 25 chance you'll come out with nothing but Saiyan genes," Bulma told her. "Are you getting this so far?"

Of course she was getting it. It was a very, very basic principle of genetics. Any kid who half paid attention during biology would understand that much of it.

"Well, that would be the case if you cut your little genetic pie into pretty little slices," Bulma told her. "But there are other possibilities, other factors, that lie in between. Your whole family history on both parents' sides becomes a factor. And then that nice pie you cut into those 4 slices becomes a jumbled mess. And your genetic material has to sort through all of this even before birth in order to make up who you are today. Why, you could be 83 Saiyan and only 17 human for all we know. Even a slight majority of Saiyan mix could have caused what we saw in those readings."

Bra hadn't really thought of it that way before--

"But so much for that theory. It all went flying out the window once I got the readings of another 100 Saiyan," Bulma continued.

Bra rolled her eyes. Then why go through the whole genetics speech? She began to think that her mother just liked to listen to herself talk.

"Goku's reading came out like mine. Like Pan's. Like everyone else's," Bulma went on. She showed Bra the readings. "And with that theory gone, I really don't know what else to think." She held up one last reading that looked like the majority of the readings she'd shown her. "And then this happened. And it blew me away."

Bra took a closer look at the reading and saw that her name was on it. "It's the last reading you got from me."

"It's the last reading I got from you," Bulma repeated. She put the reading next to the other normal readings. "You said that you had a theory. That's why you wanted your test done again. So tell me, Bra. What is it? Where did that hidden wave go?"

Bra smiled. "I can tell you my theory, but you probably won't believe it."

Bulma frowned. "What are you talking about? Tell me."

"It went to Goten," Bra said simply.

--End Expressions--

--Very little Goten in that episode. And on top of that, it was kind of a weird episode.

--Here come the flames. Some of you out there will probably be upset about the way this episode was done. Yes, I did it this way on purpose. Like I said, I don't write lemons. It's a travesty, I know. Try not to cry. I thought it would be better this way. Besides, I'm still kinda new at this whole writing thing. Give me a break.

--Thank you for reading this episode. And thank you for the reviews. Let me know what you liked. Let me know what you didn't like. Mostly what you didn't like because I know I went too far this time! HA HA HA HAAAAA! (sigh I think I've lost my mind. Maybe it's the heat.)

--Hey, there's only one more episode to go, yet there are so many unanswered questions. What could possibly be in store for the final act?


	26. Do It Again

"One word frees us of all the weight and pain of life: That word is love." --Sophocles, _Oedipus at Colonus_

Versus 4: Temporal Distortion

--Do It Again--

"It went to Goten? Your hidden wave went to Goten?" Bulma asked. She stood there and thought for a while. "Wait, you hadn't slept with him before last night, had you?"

Bra rolled her eyes. "Would you get past this sleeping together thing? This isn't about that." She picked up her first reading and her last reading. "Here's what I think." She held her readings side by side. "Dad brought to my attention that he thought it was normal to lose time. Especially when you're about to reach a new level of Saiyan."

Bulma looked like she was about to faint. "A new...?"

"That part of it isn't my concern right now," Bra told her. "What I'm concerned about is this whole time loss thing." She held up her erratic brain wave. "Here is when I was losing time. I asked all the other Saiyans if they'd ever lost time either around the times of their transformations or any other times. Every last one of them told me that they hadn't." She held up the normal brain wave. "Around this time, I stopped losing time. I haven't had a problem with it since."

"Well, that's good," Bulma said. She thought for a while. "Do you know what was causing it?"

"I think I have an idea of what was causing it. I think there are several things that led up to it," Bra said. She sighed. "It's just a theory, so bare with me. Dad mentioned that I was the last true Saiyan, but I think that was his way of telling me that I'm just as violent as, well, he is." She frowned. "Violent and without a real outlet. Just like him. Training isn't even enough to keep it in check. And so, as a result, we keep other things inside. A lot of our feelings. We don't talk much. Well, he argues with you a lot. I think that's what keeps him grounded sometimes. But I didn't have anything like that. Not at that time. I'd have these bouts of unexplained, misdirected anger. Seemingly normal teen stuff, but on a much more dangerous scale. And it caught up with me at the wrong time." Well, according to her father, she would have tried to kill Goten at some point or another eventually anyway. But leaving him there was the part she was concentrating on.

Bulma frowned. She didn't seem to be following her at all. Of course, that was probably because she'd never told her mother that she almost killed Goten.

"That's when I took this first test," Bra said. She held up the second reading. "Here's why I said that I gave my hidden wave to Goten. It's so simple, you're gonna laugh." She looked away. "This is around the time I finally told Goten that I loved him."

Well, she'd expected silence, and there silence was. Her mother was just staring at her for a long time.

"Since then, I haven't had time go by on me without knowing it. I haven't just been angry or violent for no reason. I don't train until I'm nearly dead anymore. I guess you could say that the only problems I have are normal teenage girl problems," Bra told her.

"So you think that all of this is because you hadn't told Goten you love him?" Bulma asked.

"Right. And I think that Dad has that hidden wave because he hasn't said it to you," Bra said.

"How do you know he's never told me that?" Bulma questioned.

"He said so," Bra answered. "One night I was talking to him about how I couldn't say those words for some reason. And he told me that I may never say them because he's never said them."

Bulma laughed a little. "But I know your father loves me. And he knows that I know."

"Goten knew I loved him," Bra said. "But it wasn't until I said it to him that I stopped having those time losses. He never said so, but I'll bet Dad still has them. Just like he still has that hidden wave."

"You've really thought this through, haven't you? I should talk to your father about this... It's the only logical explanation we've got left. And it all seems to line up so perfectly. I never would have pieced something like that together. Not even if I were in your shoes. You're such a little genius. Yep, you really take after me," Bulma said proudly.

Bra smiled. "What can I say? It's genetic."

--soon--

Bra had decided not to finish breakfast. She'd pretty much lost her appetite when she thought of what her parents seemed to be getting ready to do before her mother noticed she was there. She shuddered at the thought. Of course, it was that very thing that she and Goten had done just last night. She smiled to herself.

She walked into her room and looked at a note she'd left herself. It had Nick's name on it and the phone number to the hotel Eroder was staying in. It also had a list of times that would be good to call. And now was one of them. She should really check up on those guys. They were her first band friends. She'd really like to know how they were doing in Vegas.

Just as she decided to pick up the phone, it rang. She looked at it for a while. Maybe Nick had somehow read her mind and decided to give her a call. She picked it up. "Hello?"

"BRAAAAAAAA!" Pan's voice screeched.

Bra looked at the phone and frowned. Such a loud young woman...

Pan was supposed to be at school. What was she doing calling her in the middle of the day? What was she doing calling at all? She was on punishment.

"How could you do it to me, Bra?" Pan asked, sounding all weepy. "How could you leave me at this school all by myself? All by myse-e-eeeeelf," she began to sing.

Bra was sure that Pan was either as crazy as a loon or she had been popping acid. Either way, she was way too hyper today. "What are you doing calling in the middle of a school day?"

"Oh," Pan said calmly. "You know how these kids and their cell phones are nowadays. I borrowed one. Besides, it's lunch time. Hey, why aren't you at school? You don't sound sick or anything."

Bra wasn't about to tell Pan what had happened last night between her and Goten. The girl would really lose her mind. "I have a headache."

Pan was quiet for all of a second. "A headache? Your mom let you stay home because you said you have a headache? YOUR mom? The lady who promotes education above all things?"

"You're not helping my headache," Bra told her.

"Fine. I guess that's okay," Pan said.

It would have to be okay. She had already missed half of school.

"I was supposed to ask you how dinner went last night," Pan went on. "But you weren't in class this morning, so I couldn't. How did it go?"

Bra looked a little confused. She didn't remember telling Pan about the dinner. That little devil really had a way of getting information. "It went great. My parents were there and your grandparents were there. At first I didn't think my dad would be happy about it, but now, I can't be too sure how he feels."

"That's your dad, I guess," Pan added.

"Tell me about it," Bra said. "Your grandma gave me this beautiful ring that used to belong to her mother--"

"She gave YOU that ring? Aw, man. I thought she was gonna give it to me," Pan whined.

Bra sighed. "Relax. You'll probably get the ring your mom got..." She smiled. "Or MY grandmother's ring." Bra was sure that Pan and Trunks would end up getting married eventually. How in the world Trunks planned on tying that wild woman down was beyond her, but surely it would happen.

"Wha--?" Pan asked.

She could practically hear Pan blush over the phone. Bra was about to burst out laughing, but she contained herself. "Anyway, it was great." She was about to tell her that they'd pretty much set a wedding date, but she figured she would let it be a surprise for the next time she saw her in person. She wanted to see the look on her face. Maybe then Pan would understand how it felt to be on the receiving end of her surprise tactics. "Listen, maybe you should give that phone back to whoever you got it from."

"No, wait. I'm not done with you," Pan told her. "I was talking to Marron--"

Now how had she accomplished this when she was on punishment? Boy, Pan really knew her way around the system. Maybe she'd snuck out like she said she would.

"--and she was telling me that she spent some time with Uubu like we'd suggested," Pan continued. "And now he tells her that he's back for good this time. Sure, he said that the last time he was here, but this time it's official. He's even looking into getting a job and everything."

"Well, that's not so good for Marron. She's still with Wes," Bra said.

"Yeah, it's gonna be a shame when he finds out that she's living with Uubu," Pan stated like it was nothing.

There was that surprise tactic that Pan so loved to use on people.

"She's what?" Bra asked.

"She's in love with the guy. She couldn't deny it. And when she found out that he was really looking into settling down here, she started helping him find a place to stay. He asked her to move in with him and she said yes," Pan informed.

Bra was a little astounded. "I feel kinda bad for Wes. He left for only a week and now someone he thought was his girlfriend is living with another man. That's gonna hit him like a ton of bricks."

"It's kinda sad. I feel bad for him too. He's such a nice guy. A real gentleman," Pan stated. "Well, look, I gotta go. I just had to let you in on that bit of information. I'll just catch you at school tomorrow, I hope."

"Alright. See ya," Bra said. She hung up the phone and stared at it blankly. So Marron and Uubu were back together. Well, that was nice. But there was about to be one badly broken heart on the horizon. She would have to stay out of it. It wasn't in her nature to get involved in other people's relationships.

She _would_, however, call and check up on Eroder. If they were around, that is. She dialed the number and let it ring for a while. Once she was sure that no one was there, she was about to hang up when someone answered with a tired "Hello?"

"Oh, I didn't mean to wake you," Bra said. She couldn't be too sure, but the voice sounded like Todd's.

"Hey, is this that chic with the huge knockers from that gambling hall downstairs?" the voice questioned.

Yes, she was talking to Todd, the perv. "No, this is that chic with the blue hair from Capsule Corp. in your home town," she said.

"Oh, Short Stack?" Todd asked.

Short Stack?

"Nick was just saying something about calling your mom and thanking her for this gig," Todd told her.

"Gimme that," Bra heard someone else say. "Hello? Bra?"

This was Nick Carnage.

"Hey. What are you guys up to?" Bra asked.

"Nothing much right this second. But we've got some serious stuff lined up. I see you got that message," Nick said. "I didn't think you'd call."

"How could I NOT call my favorite local band?" Bra asked with a smile.

"It's great to hear from one of our hometown fans," Nick told her. "You know, we were just talking about how much we miss the local scene. We can really relate to our hometown audience. We love performing out here, but we're really proud of where we're from." He sighed. "We're being offered a record deal."

Bra raised her eyebrows. "That's amazing. You guys must be thrilled."

"Hm. Not as thrilled as you'd think," Nick said. "We took a look at the public rock scene and the companies that sign these bands. It would be great to get out there and become known all over the world. It really would. But after looking at what's going on in rock today, I know they'd trying to mold us into one of these manufactured rock bands. I don't dig that and neither do the guys. I think I prefer playing places like this whole Vegas thing and playing places at home. At least that way, we'd have more of a say in what we sound like. We wouldn't have all these different producers and managers trying to tell us what we should and shouldn't play, you know?"

Bra nodded, but she forgot that he couldn't see her. "I can understand that. A lot of people don't consider things like that when they accept these recording contracts. All they think about is the fame. They don't think about the down sides."

"Right. Now, I don't want your mom to think that we didn't appreciate this opportunity. It was a great chance to get out and do our thing in front of different people," Nick told her. He laughed.

"What? What's so funny?" Bra asked.

"Something else was weird about this whole gig," Nick said. "The talent scout thought that you would be coming with us. He thought you were in Eroder."

Oh! The night she sang for Goten. That was the night that the scout had come out to hear Eroder play. She wasn't really sure what to say about that.

Nick was silent for a minute. "Alright, man," she heard him say. Surely he wasn't talking to her. "Bra, I gotta go. It's pretty wild here. People are waiting at the jam hall just to hear us practice. I'll have to talk to you some other time."

"Alright," Bra said. "Take it easy." She hung up the phone.

Even if those guys turned down their record deal, they still had loyal fans at home. She could tell that they would stay true to the music. She would have to make a habit out of seeing them play every chance she got once they returned to the city.

She turned on her cd player and lay back on her bed. The last thing she'd left in her radio was Queens of the Stone Age's album _Lullabies to Paralyze_. It was funny how the name of this particular cd was also something they'd mentioned in passing during the last song of their previous album. Bra thought that was just keen.

--time passed--

Bra was hungry again, so she'd gone to the kitchen. Her mother was most likely in the lab doing something weird and her father was mostly likely out training still. This time there was nothing to stop her from getting a full meal in. She ate a wide variety of the things that awaited her in the refrigerator. She hadn't eaten like that in a while.

And now it was time for her to visit her soon-to-be hubby. She was a little nervous about seeing him for some reason. They'd had such a passionate night; she wasn't sure how to approach him. Would he even see her the same way? Maybe he'd gotten what he wanted out of her and never wanted to see her again.

Bra shook her head. That was ridiculous. He wanted to marry her just as much as she wanted to marry him. They were in love. They were friends too...

Yet, when Bra found herself standing in front of Trunks and Goten's apartment door, she was thinking really hard about turning tail and running. What did she have to be afraid of? She was Bra. Daughter of the prince of all Saiyans. She was a member of the greatest warrior race in the universe. She could overcome anything she put her mind to...

Goten opened the door. "Whoa."

Bra looked at him wide-eyed. How--?

"I get up to check the mail and look what I find," Goten said a little goofily. He smiled down at her. It was an uncomfortable, yet genuine smile. "Hi."

Bra smiled back a little nervously. "Hi..."

They both stood at the doorway for a moment, just staring at each other.

After a while, they both tried to speak at the same time. They laughed a little.

"Come in. Come in," Goten told her.

Bra did what he said and just stood beside their recliner.

Goten closed the door and leaned against it, seemingly in deep thought.

Silence...

"I really...really enjoyed last night," Bra said a little quietly.

Goten let out a sigh of relief. "Man, am I glad to hear that. I thought you'd be mad at me."

"Mad at you? Why would you think something like that? You made me feel... I've never felt that way before," Bra told him. She blushed and looked at the arm of the chair she was now leaning against.

"Well, for a minute there, I thought I'd hurt you or something," Goten murmured. He walked toward her. "I mean, especially when you said that you had to leave." He stood in front of her. "Besides, I...think I got a little carried away. It was your first time. I shouldn't have let that happen. I should have done things differently." He looked away and furrowed his brow.

Bra put her hands on his face to make him look at her. "Believe me, it was perfect. I thought you would have known that with all the...you know... And how much I...well..."

Goten smiled and put his hands on her hips. "And you're feeling okay? I mean, there was some blood. And then with the whole shower thing--"

Oh, yeah. The shower thing. After they'd worked up enough of a sweat, they'd showered together. To make a long story short, she'd just say that she almost drowned every time she took a breath.

All on her first night. She could see why he thought it had been a bit much. But not only was she was a willing participant, she'd instigated a lot of it. And feeling his touch now reminded her of all of it.

"I'm feeling kinda sore," Bra told him with a smile. "How about you?"

The front door opened and Trunks stepped in. He was home pretty early. Especially considering he was always putting in overtime and going to meetings. When he saw them there, he put his head down.

"Hey, Trunks," Goten greeted his roommate.

"Hey, Bro," Bra greeted as well.

Trunks looked at the two and put a hand to his head. "Listen, I'm really tired. Let me explain why." He put his briefcase down, sat on the sofa and put both hands to his head.

Bra could already tell that this wasn't going to be good.

"You two are too loud," Trunks said plainly.

Both Goten and Bra blushed deeply.

"Both of you are too loud. Next time you plan on pulling a stunt like that, go someplace else," Trunks went on. "Go to a nice hotel. Go home. Mom's got that place pretty much soundproof. Just don't stay here next time."

Bra frowned. "Shut up. We weren't even...together that late."

Goten couldn't even say anything.

"That may be true," Trunks told her. "But I had nightmares about it the whole night. Ugh! It was awful. My life may never be the same." He rolled his eyes.

Goten walked over to Trunks and put him in a headlock, laughing all the while. "Alright, out with it."

Trunks tried to escape, but it was no use. "Out with what? Get off me."

Bra looked confused. What was Goten doing?

"The least you could do is congratulate us on this very big step in our relationship," Goten said, spinning him around a bit as he spoke. The noogies ensued.

"Ow! Okay, okay," Trunks laughed. "Congratulations. You knew it was coming anyway. No need to be all abusive." He looked at Bra. "Is this the kinda husband you really want?"

Bra laughed. "If you're talking about a husband who'll kick my brother's butt, then yeah. And while you're like that, I think I'll investigate something I've been meaning to investigate for a while now."

Goten looked confused, but kept a hold of Trunks.

Bra got a little closer to Trunks. "Tell me, brother. What's the deal with you and Pan?" She smirked devilishly.

"What? We're friends," Trunks said.

"You kissed," Bra reminded him.

Goten looked surprised. "You kissed?" He held Trunks tighter.

"Ack! Okay, yeah. But honestly, I don't know where we stand. We haven't really talked about it," Trunks said, still laughing. "And that's the truth." He struggled to break free.

Goten looked at Bra with a smile. "Can we believe him?"

Bra thought for a while. "I guess."

Goten let Trunks go. "There. Don't you feel better now that it's all out in the open?"

Trunks adjusted his clothes. "Not really, no. And I still say you need to go someplace else when you're _together_ like that. These walls are paper thin, you know." He turned up his nose.

"Come on, Goten. We'd be interrupted at my house. Maybe we can have some fun in the woods," Bra suggested. She almost couldn't believe what she was saying. Had she turned into a sex-hungry maniac already?

Goten looked surprised. "Uh, I thought you'd need a break after last night."

Bra folded her arms across her chest. "Do _you_ need a break after last night?"

Trunks sighed loudly. "Hearing you two talk like that doesn't help my nightmares. I'm outta here." He went to his room.

Goten scratched the back of his head and smiled sheepishly as he watched his roommate leave. "Well, I don't need a break."

Bra smirked confidently. "Alright then. Let's get into it."

--the next day--

Pan looked at Bra for a long time. "You really did it? You and Goten really did it?"

Bra looked around the classroom. "Shhhh! Everyone in the school's gonna hear you."

Pan giggled wildly. "I don't care. This is great news. Does your dad know?"

"I don't know. I don't think so," Bra told her.

"Well, how was it?" Pan questioned.

"What? Do you know that you're asking about your uncle?" Bra whispered.

Pan rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I know that. I just wanted to ask how your first time was."

Bra turned in her desk to face the front of the classroom.

"Oh, don't you turn your back on me," Pan said. "You could at least tell me if everything I've heard is true."

"That's according to what you've heard," Bra stated, still facing the front of the classroom.

The other students started flooding in.

"Stop doing that," Pan told her. "You're not answering my question at all. I don't want details. Just tell me what it was like."

As the teacher entered the class, Bra turned to Pan and smirked. "It was like fighting. Only better." With that she turned back around.

"Wow. You've gotta tell me more, Bra. Come on." Pan tried to get her attention.

Bra had learned to ignore Pan for the most part over the years. And she did what she always did during this very boring history class, even when her now lover was teaching it. She sat in her desk and stared out the window, thinking only of who she'd always thought of at a time like this. Her Goten:

_She imagined their life together. They would raise a wonderful family of mixed Saiyans and they would be strong. They could invite everyone to their home for reunions. And their families and friends would dote on their little ones and tell them about the old days._

_And she and Goten would watch their children grow up. They'd have arguments over how to raise Saiyan adolescents and teens. Eventually the kids would decide what they wanted to do with their lives. They would soon leave the nest and she and Goten's life would start anew. After raising strong, intelligent children, they would be able to sit back and relax, knowing that their kids were going the right directions with their lives. Goten and she would grow old together and annoy each other with their quirks from time to time. It would be a fantastic life._

--End Do It Again--

--Thank you so very much for making it to the end of this series with me. You're too kind. You've done a great job with those reviews. Thank you so much.

--This whole chapter was kinda like one of those lame RPGs where you go around at the end and see what everybody's doing. You know what I'm talking about... Well, maybe you don't. If you do, you'd probably agree. If not, think of the end of the lamest movie you've ever seen, and it probably ended like this. But that's just my thought on it. Tell me what you think.

--What about Vegeta and all his ambiguity? Well, no matter what would have happened, he would have remained ambiguous. That's the way the Vegeta I write works.

--Someone asked if I would be doing another series. The answer to that question is this: I've been working on some things. So don't worry. It probably won't be as original (at least I hope it's original) as the Versus quadrilogy, but I'll still be writing.


End file.
